Something InfallibleLike Eternity
by Killing Kathy
Summary: "Run away with me." Eren turned to look at his Corporal's face, which was half shadowed against the night sky. "Pardon me sir, I don't think-?" Rivaille's gaze snapped up to meet his. "Let's run away together." he repeated. "This is an order."
1. Chapter 1

Summary-"Run away with me." Eren turned to look at his Corporal's face, which was half shadowed against the night sky. "Pardon me sir, I don't think-?" Rivaille's gaze snapped up to meet his. "Let's run away together." he repeated. "This is an order."

Eren latched himself onto the side of a building, chest heaving from adrenaline and weariness. The titan fell with shuddering thump; shaking the buildings slightly. He was too tired to change into his titan form, and for some reason, Corporal Rivaille had told him not to in this battle. Eren wiped his forehead quickly, accidently brushing a bit of blood over his forehead. Everyone else-Mikasa, Armin, Zoe, Aurou and the rest of the Recon Squad-all were holding off their prospective titans, while Rivaille-he twisted his head slightly to look. He was done already, staring at his blade in blatant disgust; blood was dripping off the handle. "Eren!"

He heard Mikasa's voice from the distance. He turned to answer her, when-there was a leering titan mouth in front of him. He froze, which was unlike him. _Eren Jaeger! What the hell are you doing! Move! __**Move! **_Suddenly, the titan's expression blanked, it's head lolled back, and there was a sicking _crack _as it's spinal cord was severed. Rivaille lept off of the titan, soundlessly landing beside Eren. "Corporal-"

"_Don't ever do that again._" He froze. The corporal's voice was mencing, expression spelling death.  
"Y-Yes, Sir."

Without another word, he just as quickly left Eren, jumping by Armin's side and helping him finish his titan off. Mikasa quickly went to Eren's side. "Are you okay?" her voice was urgent.

"Y-Yeah." Eren murmured, still staring at the Corporal.

"He's amazing, isn't he?" Zoe had dropped by him, mouth beaming.

"He really does live up to his name." Mikasa quietly agreed. Rivaille straightened, sheathed his sword, and turned to face them, short cape billowing in the wind. "Let's go back."

They all nodded in agreement, and shot off. As Eren was preparing to go, he felt a grip on his shoulder, and turned to see Rivaille's face a inch away from him. "Come to my room around 10 pm."

"W-" before he could stutter out a coherent reply, Rivaille was already gone. Eren put a hand duly up to his cheek. It felt warm.

As Rivaille was cleaning his blades precisely, making sure that they were both glistening clean, Zoe walked in, knocking on the door quietly. "Corporal?" He looked up.

"Come in."

Zoe picked up a discarded chair, righting it as she sat down. "What are we going to do now?"

Rivaille's gaze snapped up, his tone harsh. "What do you mean, 'what are we going to do now?'"

Zoe held her hands up in self defense. "I was just wondering..because.." she let her hands fall back to her sides. "Almost all the titans are killed. And we still haven't learned much about them, either."

He grunted. "Only you would care about that. All I care is if they're dead. That's what the lot of them-" here he inclined his head outside the door-"Care about too."

"I guess." Zoe reclined in the chair. "But, Corporal..we've lost a lot of people as well. Arleit..Springer..Braun..Fubar..Petra-"

"Shut up!" Rivaille stood up suddenly, causing Zoe to fall on the floor. "Don't say anything about them!"

Zoe gulped, slightly frightened of the man before her. She exhaled out in a rush-"Think about all that we're left, now! Eren, Mikasa, Armin-you, me-"

"_Shut up!" _Rivaille was almost hysterical now. "I don't want to hear it anymore! _Leave!_"

"Corporal-"

"_Now!" _

Zoe shakily stood up, putting her hand in a mock salute. "They used to say, 'God save the Queen', didn't they?" As she was halfway through the door, she stopped. "If only they knew."

Rivaille was left alone in his muddled thoughts, none of which were very comforting at the moment. He looked at the clock. It was 9:30 pm. "That brat should be coming soon.." he muttered.

Eren walked-no, paced the hallway between Rivaille's room and the dining hall. _What does he want? _He thought in panic. _Maybe I did something wrong?! Wait-Wait-what did I do that was against the rules this time? _Ransacking his brain, he couldn't come up with anything besides the few times that he had stolen meat-and-"Oh yeah." He had once stolen Corporal Rivaille's shirt, when his was clogged in blood and sweat. "Did he find out about that?!"

"Find out about what?" And emotionless voice came from behind him.

Eren jumped a foot in the air. "Eerrrk!"

"Stop acting like a penguin, Jaeger."

"Sorry sir!" He hastily replied, instinctively bowing.

Rivaille just waved it off. "Walk with me."

Eren stood there, dumbfolded. Rivaille let out an impatient sigh and grabbed his hand. "Are you idiot? I said-" He cut off as he realized that Eren was staring at his hand on his wrist. Rivaille let out a groan of frustration and threw his hands up. "I give up."

As he marched down the hallway, Eren seemed to come back to his senses and hurried after him

They walked out the door and into the overlaying forest that lay beyond that, breaking twigs and branches along the way. "Sir, where are we going?"

He expected a cocky answer, like-"Don't question me," or-"none of your business."- But the Corporal just stopped, turned to look at him, and said-"I don't know."

And it was the answer that scared Eren. _Didn't the corporal know everything? _

They continued walking until they came into a little break in the trees, in which the corporal turned to face him, sitting down on a tree stump. There followed an awkward silence, in which Eren didn't know what to say. "Erm...well..this is awkward." He chucked forcefully, noting the way it echoed. "Well then!" He plastered on a smile. "Should we be going back now?" He turned to go, when a small hand caught his arm.

"Run away with me."

Eren turned to look at his Corporal's face, which was half shadowed against the night sky. "Pardon me sir, I don't think-?" Rivaille's gaze snapped up to meet his. "Let's run away together." he repeated. "This is an order."

Eren was speechless, gawking at Rivaille like he had suddenly sprouted twin heads. "An order, sir?"

"Do you have to reply to everything with a question?" Rivaille hissed.

Eren waved his hands frantically. "No, sir, it's just that-" He bit his lip and looked down, blushing slightly. "It's just…unexpected, sir."

"Expect the unexpected. Didn't you even learn that, from all these years?"

"Yes, sir, but-"

"Just give me an answer. Yes, or no?"

Eren's gaze was as serious as his now. "Are you asking me to leave Mikasa and Armin? You know I can't do that."

"Not even for me?" Rivaille started intently at him. "I'm your corporal."

"They're my friends!" Eren protested ferociously. "I would do anything for them! If they could come along-"

"No." Rivaille's answer was clear.

"Why not?" Eren jabbed back.

Rivaille didn't reply, just looked down at the green sprout growing by his boot. He crushed it.

"Because I said so." The corporal's answer was unusually childish.

Eren gaped like a goldfish, mouth opening and closing. "You-You-..why? I thought you hated me, too. After all these years.."

"I don't hate you." Rivaille looked at him again. "I don't." he repeated.

Eren thought about it for a moment. "I can't leave Mikasa and Armin."

Rivaille stayed quiet for a long moment. "You can't leave Mikasa and Armin." He repeated finally.

"I can't." Eren answered, nodding.

"What if they leave you?" Rivaille's look was a demonic one. "What if they leave you?"

"What?!" Eren lept up from his place on the forest floor, hand already halfway to his sword. "What are you saying, you sick bastard?!"

"I'll kill them if you don't come with me." Rivaille had his sword out too, at the ready. They circled each other like wolves. "And here I thought you actually had a value of human life." Eren ground out between his teeth.

In a flash, Rivaille had his head bent back, knife pressed to his throat. "You, and your friends all know that you can't stand a chance against me." He breathed slowly in Eren's ear.

Eren gulped, adam's apple bobbing. "..Fine." he chocked out. "..Fine."

Rivaille let him go then, sheathing his sword. "Good."

Eren fell to the ground after Rivaille released him. "Just know that I'm not doing this of my free will." He gasped.

Rivaille was starting to walk, but now he turned back. "I know." He murmured.

Eren just gaped at his retreating back. "Meet me in front of this forest at 3:00 am tomorrow." Rivaille's tone was firm. "Don't be late."

* * *

This is my first fic for Shengeki no Kyojin..I decided to watch this anime because a blog I follow on Tumblr was really recommending it..so I decided to try it..and HOLYFREAKINGBANANASITWASAMAZING. ..Sorry. The plot was really good, and the characters…wow. Just..wow. Sorry that this chapter was a little short, but I decided to end it here because it seemed like a "right" place, you know? .Wow..I still have all my other fanfictions that I need to update….so..I hope you like it? I really want to continue this story..so..it would be lovely if you awesome people out there (yes, you) would decide to drop this poor, insane author a review. 3 *virtual hug* I love you guys!


	2. Chapter 2

Eren held his breath as he quietly snuck back to his bunk. Mikasa and Armin were already soundly asleep on their bunks, breathing in and out in even tempos. He looked at them longingly and wistifully, brushing both of their hair back and planting a gentle kiss on both of their foreheads.

"Goodbye.." Eren's voice was a harsh whisper, probably because he'd been shouting so much.

His hands trembled as he packed his bag, he admitted to himself. He was frightened. The Special Corp. went out of the walls all the time-but..this..

_"Run away with me." _Eren shook his head and shivered that memory off. "Heh.." he chuckled to himself. "If I weren't such an idiot, this would've never happened."

"If I weren't so _weak._" His bottom lip trembled against his will, and soon, the world was spinning. He collapsed in the wooden corner of the room; head bowed in his hands, shoulders shaking with sobs. Silent ones, mind you. _After all, I shouldn't wake Mikasa or Armin, right?_

~X~

Rivaille gave one more critical sweeping gaze to his quarters. It would've been glimmering if out in the sun, but as it was, darkness cascaded through the window, and everything shone with a muted glow hereafter. His ransack had nothing in it, save a few bottles of water and possessions. He stuck his hand in there to feel what was in there, and came out with a crumpled wad of handkerchiefs. To take or not to take…he mused. _It's not like I'll need them out there anyway, _the corporal concluded, but as he was about to throw them away, his hand froze and he found himself robotically shoving the hankies back into the ransack. Maybe it was just for his own selfish sake, Rivaille wondered, but..if he was to wipe his identiy clean and pure out there-

It would be nice, he admitted to himself.

_If I could have something to remind me of who I am. _

To tell the truth, he had had enough of this madness and warfare. "As long as humanity exists, war will never cease." He murmered quietly to his bookshelves, which had all been emptied a long time ago. "…at least we know that some of humankind had common sense."

If he was to be truthful to himself, to strip down and bare his naked soul to the heavens-

He was tired, not of war and battle, but of _saving other people. _For once, he had wanted to do something for himself. "Then why am I taking that boy along?" He spoke aloud to the empty room; there was a quivering echo. "Isn't that caring for something other than myself?"

There was something about him, though..he mused, checking all his blades to make sure they were sharpened. Probably his titan changing abilities. He concluded triumphtly. "That's right." He gave a laugh that sounded half forced, even to his own ears. "I'm just using him to give myself an advantage to survive. _That's all._"

~X~

There was a faint creak of door hinges as Eren poked his head out of his shared room. The moon had passed its climax three hours ago, and was lazily drifting east, shining a half-glow upon headquarters. The grass crinkled and shifted as he moved his weight quietly; trying to get to the forest without being seen. The extra blades that he had strapped to his back clinked in the silence, and his bag, which was full of rations and whatnot, kept on making strange crinkling noises.

He could've swore, right then, if it weren't for the dire paranoid situation he was in; Eren had tripped on a rock, sending his weight forward, sprawling across the grass. To keep from falling, he had tried to regain his balance by taking hasty steps, but instead had crashed into a tree. Instead of cursing, he had muttered deep threats under his breath and kicked the tree, which made a satisfying _thump_. When he was about to get to the edge of the forest, he slowed down and became more cautious. What if it was a trap? What if this was a decoy of Rivaille? _That would make sense, though.. _He thought. Besides, the corporal had been acting strange lately...he tightened his grip on his sword. Now he was holding it so tightly that it was almost shaking. "Loosen up a bit, Jaeger."

A faintly amused voice unveiled from the dark. Eren snapped his head up, body instinctively moving into a defensive stance. Rivaille appeared like a wraith in front of him, face emotionless as always. "It's just me."

"That's why." Eren snapped. "How do I know you won't try to kill me or something when my back's turned? Who knows, you might even try to eat me sooner or later."

"If I wanted to kill you, wouldn't I have done it now?"

"…maybe you have an ulterior motive." Eren replied bluntly.

"…What are you trying to do, Jaegar? Wiggle your way out of this?"

"No, Sir. I was merely wondering."

They stared each other down for a few moments; Eren was the first to break eye contact. Rivaille started walking in front of him. Eren hastily followed, tripping over tree roots that seemed to appear out of no where. Rivaille turned slightly towards him. "Out here, we are not corporal and soldier. We are merely two people, got it?"

Eren nodded, slightly confused with whatever the corporal was implying. "Therefore," Rivaille continued. "You will not call me Corporal anymore. And same goes with me. I'll won't call you by your Corp. name, but rather your own, _Jaegar. _You will call me Rivaille from now on, clear?"

"Y-Yes…Rivaille." Eren tested the new name on his tongue. Without the "Corporal" part of the name, it had seemed to lose a lot of it's formidableness and threat, and now was just-Rivaille, instead of a metal bar of words. "Rivaille." He repeated, strangely happy with how the name sounded. "I guess you can call me Eren then.." he muttered, looking away slightly.

"Hm?" Rivaille stopped; he wasn't paying attention before.

"..Never mind." Eren brushed it off.

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No."

"_Tell. Me. Now._"

"No."

"I'll castrate you!" Rivaille threatened, already half-withdrawing his blade.

"F-Fine!" Eren was striken at that thought. "I said..that you could call me Eren. It'll be awkward otherwise, right?"

Rivaille thought about it for a moment. "Eren." He drew out slowly, tasting the foreign word on his mouth. "Eren." He smiled slightly, the lip movement so microscopic; even Eren almost missed it.

"Corpor-" The mood was ruined when Eren forgot about their new arrangments. He slapped a hand over his mouth, but the damage was already done. For a moment, Rivaille looked sad. Was it because Eren had reminded him of what he lost and gave up, just to go on this crazy journey? "let's go." He said shortly. Without another word, Eren followed, running after his former Corporal. Or should we say, _Rivaille. _

~X~

Eren's mouth was sticking to his teeth. "Water.." he moaned despretly. It was around 6:00 am in the morning, and they had been running non-stop for three hours. Rivaille snapped, "Isn't that the third time you've said that already?"

"It's true! I'm thirsty!" Eren complained. "and if we encounter some titans, then-"

"We killed half of them off, remember?"

"They could always come back!"

"How?!"

"Don't ask me! No one knows how they reproduce yet!"

The lack of hydration and exhaustion made the two men very 'on the line', and even though they had never gotten along in the first place, they were absolutely furious at each other now. Finally, Rivaille stopped running, and dusted his pants off while he waited for Eren to catch up. When Eren finally did catch up, he collapsed into a pile of limp noodles, tounge half-hanging out of his mouth; cheek pressed against tiny pebbles. Rivaille gently kicked his head. "What's wrong with you?! It's only three hours!" He started pacing around the tree that they stopped at.

"_Only _three hours?!" Eren screeched. "You're-'mankind's strongest soldier, and whatnot.' I'm a idiotic farmboy who decided to join the military!"

"But you joined the Recon Corps, didn't you?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"You're not an idiot, for that, then. Wait..I take that back. You are an idiot if you willingly joined us. I thought we forced you to in the coutroom."

Eren looked away and coughed, a faint blush on his cheeks. "No…I wanted to join..so that I could actually feel like I was doing something to help humanity, I guess."

Rivaille had stopped pacing and was listening intently. "..I take back what I said earlier. You're not in idiot, you're just a dumbass. What use to humanity are you if you get killed? Futhermore, and the more important thing, why did you come with me if you wanted to 'help humanity'? I'm _running away _from that, for god's sake! Running away from something like the coward I really am!"

Eren had sat up slightly, dehydration pushed aside for now. "When I was younger," he began. "You were my idol. I would draw pictures of you in school when they asked for our superhero, and I loved history, because then they would talk about you in that class and I could learn more who you were. But then, of course.." he gave a short laugh. "I came here and found out that you were actually this obsessive clean freak."

Rivaille paused for a moment, lost for words. "..Thanks." he coughed into his hand. Eren got up and peered closely at the man's face. "Are you blushing?" he asked in delight. "If everyone else could only see this! Rivaille, blushing!"

"_Shut up!_" Rivaille slapped the back of his head. Eren fell like a stickman onto the forest ground. Rivaille quickly knelt by him. "Eren? Eren?! Eren Jaegar, can you hear me?!"

With a faint groan, Eren got up, rubbing the back of his head. He stared at Rivaille. "Eh? Who are you?"

Rivaille froze in shock. "Y-You don't know who I am?"

"No."

Rivaille felt like his brain was being ripped in half. Suddenly, Eren burst out laughing. "I was joking! I was joking!" He slapped Rivaille playfully on the back. "You should've seen your face! Man, was it hilarious! Eh? Rivaille?" he poked a finger under Rivaille's chin and held it up.

"Don't ever do that again." Rivaille's tone was deadly serious.

"Isn't that what friends do, though?" Eren mused.

"Friend?"

"Yeah, aren't we friends now? I call you Rivaille, you call me Eren, we're running away together..if that isn't friendship, I don't know what the hell it is."

"Seriously. Don't do that ever again."

"I'm asking you, why not?"

"Because." Rivaille got up, wincing at the dirt that covered his clothes. "We should continue walking." Eren followed behind him, shrugging.

_Flashback_

_"Mom? Mom?!" Rivaille shook his mother's shoulder shakily; hands covered in gore. "Mom? Mom! Answer me! Please! Mom!" A hand yanked him roughly back. _

_"what are you doing kid? She's dead! Can't you see that?!" _

_Rivaille kept on shaking his head. "She told me she wouldn't die!" He glared up at the soldier. "And mother always keeps her promises! She told me she would stay with me!" He was screaming now, ripping his vocal chords apart. "You bastards don't know anything! Anything! She's. Not. Dead!" But, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how hard he tried to hold back, he couldn't help but cry. And he did cry, sobbing and screaming as the soldier dragged him away from the limp corpse. "She promised.." He put his hands to his face. "She promised.." _

_"Dad? Dad! Are you here?" Rivaille poked his head in the door. "I bought yams from the market." His dad was sitting in a chair facing the wall. "I still can't believe that I'm a father.." his voice was vauge and empty. Rivaille bit his lip and went into the kitchen. He had to stretch in order to reach the counter; his arms were too short._

_ His dad had gotten amnesia. The doctor said that it was because of shock, or overworking, so now, Rivaille was the one taking care of him. He had to get a job, because his father couldn't use his hands to work anymore He used to be a carpenter, making little wooden horses and bears for the children. He had a whole collection of them in his room, the ones that he had given to his father in hopes that the feel of wood would help him remember. The time he got back, they were all thrown in the fire. _

_But-by then, Rivaille was just too tired to care, or to cry that his last possession from his father was gone. Father. Not a rag doll with the face of his dad, but Father. Rivaille had to struggle to reach the knife that was sitting on the counter to chop the yams, almost cutting himself in the process. _

_Flashback end._

Rivaille turned to Eren, who was yawning. "Do you believe in promises?"

He blinked. "…when I was little," he began. "My mom told me that all promises should be kept, and if they weren't, then calling that a promise in itself would be a sin. I don't lie. If I can't promise something, then I don't say it. Oh wait.." he stopped again. "I promised..Mikasa and Armin that we would see the world together. Together." He chuckled bitterly. "So much for that, hun?"

Rivaille looked at him quietly. "You have me."

Eren paused. "Let's promise something." Rivaille turned to see him holding his pinkie out. "We'll always be there for eachother, no matter what. And most importantly.._We won't die out here._"

Rivaille looked at him. "Didn't you say that you wouldn't make false promises?"

"I believe in this one." Rivaille couldn't help but smile as he intertwined his pinkie with his. "It's a promise.

* * *

..Wow. I got so much good feedback on the last chapter..wow. You guys are the light of my life. I checked my FFN email in math class, and I jumped up and squeaked at all the alerts in my inbox. I love you guys and your reviews so much. They inspired me to write this chapter..wow. I updated quickly this time. I'm saying Wow a lot…

I love your reviews! They make this poor author happy. :D *virtual ice cream*

Reviewreviewreview *you amazing person, I love you.*

Until next time! Ja Ne!

K.K


	3. Chapter 3

Eren splashed his face in a running stream of muddy water, careful not to get dirt on his face. Rivaille, being the clean freak that he was, stared at the mixture in disgust, deciding to take a drink from his water canteen instead. Eren looked sadly at his own canteen, which was bone-dry after he decided to gulp it all down in one go. He had a fleeting idea of filling it in the creek, when a impatient grunt came from behind him. "Don't you dare think about filling it in the creek. You'll die of poisoning."

Eren turned to him. "What else am I supposed to do?! Dehydrate to death?!" Rivaille rolled his eyes and threw him a small container. "Here."

Eren caught it, credit mostly given to reflex, and stared curiously at the label. _Water Purification Drops. _"What the hell are these?"

Rivaille covered a yawn from behind his hand. "These are what humans used to use back when water was dirty and full of bugs and shit.."

Eren just shrugged, taking one last skeptical glance at the bottle, then gently plopped three drops in his canteen; drops forming on the bottom. He then stumbled back to the creek and held his canteen under the running water, watching as the clear liquid rushed in. "By the way," he asked out of a bout of curiosity. "What happened to the bugs?"

"Weren't we hungry enough to eat them all?"

_Right.._Eren thought. Back before all the plants and livestock were old enough to actually eat, humans were driven to the point of desperation and madness, when a single juniper bug was worth as much as a leg of beef today. It was insane, he thought. At how far humanity would go just to hide their lives.

~X~

It was 9:00 pm, according to Rivaille's hopefully accurate assumption on the position of the sun and moon. They had near the edge of the forest, which was thinning out, slowly dying off. Beyond that, Eren could see, was a rugged slope of rock, which he remembered from Armin, called _Mountains. _Armin..the blonde's face flashed in his mind briefly. Since Armin isn't here, he vowed, I'll memorize all of these for him, and if-no. _When _we get back, I'll tell him everything there is to know about the world. From every little root, to something as big as a mountain.

"Hey, Rivaille?"

"Hmm?" The ex-corporal was facing away from him, looking into the small makeshift flame that they had made with old, dried tree bark.

"Why did you join the Recon Corps?"

There was no reply for a while from the slight figure, and Eren was just thinking that he had fallen asleep when there was a rustling of fabric, and he found himself staring into Rivaille's eyes. "It's none of your business." Was his harsh answer.

As much as Eren wanted to pry some more, he knew that he would never coax an answer out, and settled for a quiet sigh, burrowing deeper into his cloak. "Did you ever want to see the world, though?"

"Why do you ask?"

Eren turned his head up to the sky, and reached out a hand to the stars. "When I was back inside the walls, I saw these." Here he pointed at the constellations scattered across the sky. "And I always thought about how it would be like to touch them. I guess that gave me my curiosity to see the world. And then Armin.." his breath hitched. "He-He had a book..and in it..were pictures."

"Of what?" Rivaille's quiet reply was almost indefinable above the cracking of the fire.

"The world." Was Eren's simple response. "There were forests, and mountains, and _oceans_. Did you know that oceans cover three-fourths of the earth's surface?"

"No, I never knew."

"Well, they do. And did you know that half of earth used to be inhabited by these things called _dinosaurs?_"

Rivaille snorted. "Dinosaurs? What where they?"

"Gigantic lizards-Some were bigger than titans!" Eren excitedly said.  
"Psh. Wish they were here now, to help us fight them off."

"Naw, they would probably try to eat us too."

"Lovely." Here Rivaille turned back to his side of the fire. His breathing soon became slow and even. "Rivaille?"

He received no response.

"Rivaille?" he repeated.

Only the quiet chirping of crickets answered him. "Ah, well." He gave up. "Goodnight." He mumbled as he edged his blanket up. And so faint-that he almost missed it-

"Goodnight." Rivaille replied quietly.

~X~

"GGGGWWWUUUAARRRGGGHHHHH!"

Eren was automatically on defense mode, eyes snapping open as a roar shook the forest. Unfortunately the rest of his body was slower to react than his brain, so he stumbled and crashed into the ground, face buried in the dirt. A vice-like hand snapped out and yanked his collar back up, half-choking him into standing upright. Eren massaged his throat; wincing, and looked at the sky. It was still half-dark. "Shit." He cursed. If this was a titan, then they would be at a light disadvantage. Rivaille shifted into a deep crouch, blade at the ready. Eren did likewise, shifting his feet so that he could get a better grip on the unstable forest ground. There was a shaking, not unlike that of an earthquake, and-

With a force enough to bend trees at a 90 degree angle, two gigantic hands emerged out of the dark, reaching for the two humans; as if it were sensing their heat.

Rivaille shot his 3D maneuver gear into action, leaping up into a tree. "Eren!"

Eren had done the same, hopping into a tall redwood. "What?"

"Unless we get more gas somewhere, our supply is limited. Use it only when you have to!"

"Right!"

"Don't change into your titan form!" Eren, who had his hand halfway to his mouth, stopped. "Eh? Why?"

"You'll wake everyone around a 45 mile radius! They'll come charging here, do you want that to happen?!"

"..Oh." Eren gritted his teeth in frustration. That was his Ace card, a reliable escape for anything that would happen. Even though he couldn't control his titan, he knew that Rivaille would stop it before it did anything disastrous. He looked for the man, who was now poised like a cat on his branch, narrowing his eyes as he waited for the rest of the titan to emerge. And emerge it did, grinning face sweeping out into the clearing. Eren shivered in disgust and slight fear at its expression. It was a chilling expression of manical happiness, jaw half open and dripping with saliva. Its eyes were grossly wide; abnormally long neck extended out. But-as soon as the rest of the body walked into the clearing, Eren noticed something. "Rivaille!"

At this point, Rivaille didn't give a crap. "What?!"

"Look! Its arms!" He blinked, then concentrated his air of focus onto those unnaturally crooked arms. "It has 4 arms!" cried Eren, ever the helpful one.

"I know that, dumbass!" snapped Rivaille. "I can see!"

A titan with four arms was unheard of, even among all the abnormalities. Never the matter. Sever its weak spot, then it would all be over. Rivaille lept out from his branch, swinging his maneuver gear into the tree just behind the titan. The monster was half-turning, arms already trying to grab him, when Eren lept at him in front, landing on his gigantic nose. He drove its attention away from Rivaille, who hadn't paused and was still trying to get to the weak point. He balked once he saw it. A gigantic lump of.._something _stretched over the spinal cord, seemingly protecting it against any harm. "Rivaille! Hurry!" Eren was having more trouble dodging now. Rivaille shook his head and plummeted for the spot, sword extended. As he hit it, he knew straight away that it wouldn't do any damage at all. Using all of his strength, he had carved a nick-a _nick _on that abnormal neck. "Dammit!" he cursed. It would take him eternity to just get to that weak point, and Eren really couldn't hold out for much longer. Nevertheless, he tried in vain to jab it again, but the nothing happened, save a new scratch. He decided not to waste futile efforts trying to try doing something he knew wouldn't work, and went higher into the tree, scanning for another weak point. There was a gap at the hairline of the beast, but would that work?! "It's not like I have any choice now.." He jumped onto the Titan's neck, working his way to the nape of his hair. He straightened both of his blades, and _shoved _them into the neck hollow, wincing as the beast gave an awful roar. His blades were buried to the hilt, and the titan was already shaking his neck, trying to dislodge them. He couldn't leave without his blades, so he braced a foot and pulled, both swords coming out with a squelching noise. Steaming blood was dripping from both, so hot that Rivaille would swear that they would melt.

Eren yelled, "What's taking you so long?!"

"There's something at the neck!" Rivaille called back. "I can't cut it!"

"Cut the ankles!" Eren screamed at him as the titan got over its pain and lunged once more. "The ankles!" he despretly repeated. Rivaille squinted downwards. The ankles were constantly moving, so it would be a tough task to cut them both. But no matter. He flew straight to the left side, weaving in and out of the titan's stomping feet, looking for an opening. _There! _He jumped in, and jabbed the sword into the thick tendon; the titan screeching in an unhuman way. The right one was easier, probably because of the pain that the titan was in. He severed that one quickly, and jumped away as the giant callopsed with a loud _thump, _heavy enough to shake the ground. "It's not dead; it'll come after us!" he called to Eren. "Run!" His companion nodded, not stopping to think as he jumped from tree to tree out of the forest. Rivaille flew before him, running onto the plains that were beyond. "Aim for the mountains!"

After Rivaille had deemed them "safe" from the abnormality, Eren turned to him. "What the fuck was wrong with that titan?! And what was at his neck?"

Rivaille shrugged and started cleaning his blades. "There was a gigantic lump of something really hard and thick. Even I couldn't cut through it. And those arms..what kind of gigantic mutant babies have they been having?"

Eren paced around on the rocky ground. "We've killed off almost all the titans, right? What if.." he stopped. "What if they're evolving? Will we have to find new ways to kill them?!"

Rivaille sat down, hands crossed over his thighs. "You might be right about them evolving. Mankind evolved to avoid them, why can't they evolve to avoid us? After this, will all the titans be like that?"

"Hopefully not." Rivaille inwardly shivered. "they would be a bitch to fight."

"Zoe would have loved to see those, though." Eren chucked a bit. "She would've been all over them, taking pictures, all that crap."

"Hanji would have loved to see that." Rivaille agreed.

"Can't we go back, Rivaille?" Eren turned to look at him. "We could go back. And be with the rest of the corps. We could battle the titans all together! With Mikasa, Armin, Zoe-"

"No." Rivaille's look was enough. "No. I've come this far, I'm not backing out now."

"What about me?" Eren questioned. "I could go back, couldn't I?"

"You know perfectly well what would happen if you try to run." Rivaille threw that reminder at him. Eren exhaled. "Just saying, Rivaille" He walked up a little on the rocky slope. "This journey is going to get you, and me, killed."

* * *

…I LOVE ALL MY REVIEWERS! All of you, thank you so much for filling up my oxygen tank to write this chapter..honestly. Reviews motivate me to much..especially long ones. *nudgenudgewinkwink*

But writers, we run on reviews. It's like our coffee in the morning, you know? Ask any fanfiction writer. Or any writer at all. Thanks to all the people who followed and faved as well!

And..yes. The first two chapters were a bit of a fanservice. Rivaille was OOC in those..I guess..because I was reading a bunch of Uke Rivaille fics..and yeah. He turned out that way. But our "Strongest Soldier of Mankind is back!" :D Whooo!

But..now..it has plot! *le gasp* Episode 10 of Shingeki no Kyojin is coming out in a few minutes..(Yes, I am timing everything) See you guys next time! I have a special present too, (fanservice FTW!) for all my lovely reviewers. ..This probably won't make you take this chapter seriously now. But that's okay.

Um..this Omake kinda has smut in it..so..you can skip it if you want! ^^"

**Slightly M-rated Omake-** Eren turned his head up to the sky, and reached out a hand to the stars. "When I was back inside the walls, I saw these." Here he pointed at the constellations scattered across the sky. "And I always thought about how it would be like to touch them. I guess that gave me my curiosity to see the world. And then Armin.." his breath hitched. "He-He had a book..and in it..were pictures."

"Of what?" Rivaille's quiet reply was almost indefinable above the cracking of the fire.

"Porn pictures." Was Eren's simple response.

"Yeah-Wait..what?!" Rivaille shot up, head over the crackling of the fire. "Yeah." Eren's shot a wicked grin at him. "Does that..turn you on?"

"No, you sick bastard!"

"Oh, really?" Eren reached for him, flipping Rivaille back on the ground and leaning forward, nose touching the others. "Because I, am-"

Rivaille was about to say something, when he found a mouth over his. A very warm mouth, in fact. His protests died away, and he found himself wrapping a arm around Eren's neck, diving deeper into the kiss. Eren's hair tickled his forehead, and one hand was on Rivaille's back, the other tugging on his clothes. "Ah..Stop..that's-"

*BBBEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPP*

The author is a cruel dictator and will leave you hanging.

Sorry guys! :D But this is just a example of my gifts to reviewers..if I ever make 100, I'll pick out a random reviewer and write them a 4,000 word fanfic of their choice! And who knows, maybe if I like the plot, I'll even continue it! : I don't like the way authors say, "I'll give the 100th reviewer blahblahblah.." I like thinking that everyone has a equal chance, you know? Of course, I'll enter every name the amount of times that they review..so..^^"

SORRY I'M BRIBING YOU GUYS! *sobs in a corner*

Until next time! I love you!

K.K

P.S There's this person called Klicks on Fanfiction. She's my really good friend who is currently obsessed with Hetalia. MAKE HER WATCH SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN! THREATEN HER! SHE'S AN AMAZING FANFICITON WRITER AND WILL GIVE YOU AWESOME RIVAILLEXEREN FANSERVICE IF SHE LIKES IT! :D And we all want that..right? Tell her K.K bribed you with smut possibilities. (Sorry, Klicks!)


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was midway high up in the horizon, which Eren bluntly pointed out, meant that they had wasted 2 hours pacing around their little patch on the mountain. Rivaille had sat on a half-broken log, not caring if it was dirty anymore; gazing intently at the pebbled ground as he sketched out a rough sketch of a titan. Eren was sprawled by his side, eyeing the stick that he had in his hand. "Rivaille.."

The soldier didn't look up, eyebrows furrowed together as he marked all the weak places that a titan could possibly have. "Rivaille." Eren repeated.

No reply was granted; Rivaille was busy glaring at his titan sketch.

"_Rivaille." _

"What?!" Eren had finally broken his concentration, which he minutely rejoiced at. He pointed to the stick that Rivaille was holding. "You do know that that stick has an ant on it, right?"

Rivaille blinked for a moment, then, still staring at Eren, reached his hand over and crushed the ant, not batting an eyelash. Eren was in disappointment for a moment, because he had thought that the commander would actually be scared of a mere ant.

He was surprised, however when the ex-corporal finally threw the stick down in frustration and stomped on the dusty picture, trampling it to oblivion. "Rivaille?"

"Damn it.." Rivaille cursed. "We're been fighting the titans for one way all these years..and as soon as we almost get all of them, they just have to go and _evolve_ like those shitty bastards they are. Damn it all!"

He slumped back on the log and buried his face in his hands. Eren bit his lip, and not knowing whether to do it or not, put a comforting arm around his commander and rocked him comfortingly back and forth. "What are you doing?!" Rivaille grumbled, trying to escape from his grip.

Eren just put his chin on the smaller man. "This is what I do to Armin and Mikasa when they're frustrated. Just relax for a while."

"..Let me go." Rivaille snapped, half-heartily trying to pry Eren's arms apart.

"No." Eren stubbornly said, clutching onto him even tighter.

"Do you know how disgusting this is? We both haven't taken a shower or bath in two days!"

Rivaille crinkled his nose up at that fact, and slapped Eren's hand away, brushing dust off his pants and swinging his green cloak back around himself. "We have to keep moving."

Eren exhaustedly threw his hand up at the sun. "That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past two hours!"

Rivaille just gracefully ignored his comment, and continued walking up the sloped side of the mountain, little stones coming unglued from his boots and scattering around Eren, who hurriedly tried to catch up.

They continued like that for a while, Rivaille occasionally throwing insults at Eren, who was currently too scared to reply in kind, so as it was, just accepted them as pridefuly as he could.

Suddenly Rivaille stopped and turned slightly. "are you scared of heights?"

Eren, who had been holding back his nausea for 23 minutes, frantically shook his head, but then groaned and held his stomach. "No.."

Rivaille snorted and fully turned, seeing his green face. "How in the world can you operate a 3D flying gear if you're scared of heights?"

"That's not it! I-" Eren held his hand over his mouth and groaned again. "It's just going on _things _that could fall apart at any second that makes me paranoid!"

Rivaille cocked a eyebrow. "Didn't you climb on that colossal titan?"

"That's because I knew when it would fall!"

"It never fell." Rivaille bluntly reminded him.

Eren was about to open his mouth and say something, when another wave of sickness hit him. "Uch.."

Rivaille hesitated, and for a moment, Eren thought that he was going to help him, when the commander whirled around and started climbing. "Keep going."

"But-"

"If you back down, I'll kick you off this mountain myself! And you call yourself a man?!" Rivaille threatened. Eren, who only knew too well about Rivaille's kicks, wisely kept his mouth shut and kept climbing. After a while, they had to stop because the air was becoming too thin. Even Rivaille was gasping slightly, legs shaking slightly. "Let's stop."

Eren, who wasn't faring any better, nodded. They both found a niche that wasn't too shallow and sat in it, trying to catch their lost breath. Rivaille pulled out a white handkerchief and tied it over his face. Eren blinked. "Hey, that looks like-"

Rivaille shoved another in his face, eyes daring him to say anything else. "You actually brought them with you?!" Rivaille narrowed his face, and Eren found himself rolling off the mountain. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Just as he was about to fall, a hand clamped on his hair and hauled him back up. "You were saying?" Rivaille's voice, now muffled by the handkerchief, asked.

"N-nothing.." Eren smiled frantically, clumsy fingers trying to tie the cloth around his face. This went on for quite a while, until Rivaille's patience finally snapped and he beckoned to Eren. "Come here."

"Eh?"

"I'm helping you tie it, idiot!" Eren nodded in realization, face blushing slightly as he crawled towards Rivaille, who yanked on his hair again and pulled him around so that he was in between his legs. Eren felt quick fingers deftly tying a knot, before he was shoved away again. Rivaille carefully stood up. "Let's go."

Snow had started to fall gently from the sky as they got up higher. "Eh?" Eren blinked as a droplet of the white fluff landed on his arm.

"Snow? But..it wasn't snowing down there.." Rivaille mused as a flake landed on his outstretched palm.  
"Hmm..I think that Armin mentioned something like the tops of mountains are always covered with snow."

"Why?"

"Probably because as we get higher up, it gets colder. Anyway.." Eren's voice turned sly as he pocketed a ball of snow and threw it at Rivaille, hitting his mark, which was Rivaille's dark hair. As soon as it hit, he regretted it with every might of his being. There was white in his hair, contrasting with the black. A evil aura was emitting from the man, and there was a slight shaking coming from him. "Eren fucking Jaegar."

"Y-Yes?"

Rivaille scooped up a even bigger clump of snow. "I am fucking _killing _you!" he threw the snowball at Eren, squarely in his face. Eren stumbled back, dusting off the handkerchief that was still on his face. He spluttered and spit out a wad of cold snow. "You wanna go? It's on!" With a manical grin Rivaille wouldn't dub as truly sane, he gathered up more snow and waited for Eren to throw. He smoothly dodged every one, all the while still sending snowballs pelting at Eren's face. This was the first time in decades that he had laughed this much.

_Flashback_

"_Look, Rivai, it's snow!" His mother got a little clump on her hand and presented it to him, a smile on her face. Rivaille eagerly reached for it, only to pull back and shake it from his hand. "It's cold!" he complained with a disgusted face. _

_His mom laughed and just scooped up some more, smearing it over his head. "Well, not everything can bow to you, right, Rivai-chan?" _

_Rivaille spluttered in indignation, but got his own batch of snow, dumping it on his mom's head. "Why you!" his mom playfully chased him around their front porch. "Rawgh!" she mock yelled, holding her hands out like claws. "I've got you!" She nuzzled her face into his wet hair. _

_Rivaille just giggled and snuggled up to his mother.  
"What have we got here?" An amused voice came from above them. "Dad!" Rivaille cried, struggling out of his mothers arms and leaping in his father's. He hoisted him up into the air and spun Rivaille around until he was dizzy. "Stop! Stop!" he half-cried, half-laughed. _

"_Never!" his father growled, but stopping nevertheless and holding him closer. His mom came up to them, wrapping her arms around both. Rivaille could feel both of their heartbeats against their chests, and he eagerly reached for them both. His mom and dad both kissed him one by one on the forehead. "I wish it would always be like this!" He joyfully yelled, squeezing his parents' hands tightly. _

_At that time, his parents had looked sad, but he had waved it off as something trifal, like the laundry would get wet because of the falling snow.. _

"_Of course!" his mother murmured, taking him up into her arms again. "I'll never leave you!" _

"_it's a promise!" his father added, the laugh wrinkles around his mouth lighting up again. _

_Rivaille warbled with delight as his mom blew a raspberry on his arm. "That tickles!" _

"_I'll never leave my precious Rai-chan~" she chanted each time she blew another one. _

"_I love you too much!" _

"_I love you too, kaa-san!" _

_End flashback. _

Rivaille stopped still, memories flooding back to him. _Why? I thought I forgot a long time ago.._A plob of snow hit him on the shoulder, courtesy of Eren, who stopped in surprise. "Eh? Are you okay?"

"Let's stop this." Rivaille shook the snow off his hair and straightened, promptly brushing off the wet substance off his cloak and outfit. "Only children act this way."

Eren quirked an eyebrow at his commander's change of personality, but nevertheless, shrugged and sat up, shaking the snow out of his hair. After waiting for a minute, Rivaille continued upwards towards the ever-going abyss of the mountain; Eren following behind. There was an awkward silence for a while, one that Eren didn't know how to break. Rivaille wasn't minding any attention to the atmosphere, only climbing upwards with a straight determination. Eren yawned, flicking a bit of excess snow off his handkerchief and squinted upwards. The sleet was falling harder and harder as they went upwards. He blinked as a hard chip fell into his eyes. "Rivaille!" He called. "It's going to-" A hail stone hit Rivaille in the middle of his face. Eren paused, then gulped in fear. Rivaille was shock still for a moment, while the hail stone wisely decided to pry itself from his forehead. He put a hand to his forehead and turned around. Through his fingers, Eren could see the beginning of an angry pink mark. "Jaegar." His voice was still calm and cool for now. "Y-Yes?"

"We're stopping for now, until the hail stops." Rivaille calmly went a little ways ahead, silently fuming. Eren held back for a moment, until he thought there was a safe distance between them, then climbed gingerly after his commander, wincing as pieces of hail hit his arms. Surprisingly, there were "caves" on mountains as well. It was actually a hollowed piece of rock which probably fell from the mountain a long time ago, but provided a little shelter from the sleet, and that was enough. Rivaille lay Indian style from the edge of their makeshift shelter, squinting down at the land below. "We're actually really high up!" Eren whistled. Rivaille turned to look at him. "I thought you were afraid of heights?"

"I am." Rivaille blinked. "Then why-"

"I don't have anything else to vomit, so I'm good." Eren cheerfully said. "When did you.."

"Oh, I ran away when you were partly up the mountain and threw up behind a bush."

Rivaille was stunned, not by the fact that he-"vomited nature" but rather the fact that he had gotten away from _him_, the "strongest soldier of mankind". What if Eren tried to run again? "I must be losing my touch.." Rivaille murmured, sinking back into the cave walls. "Hmm?" Eren asked.

"Nothing." Rivaille put a hand to his pounding forehead and slumped back. "What time is it?" he asked Eren. Eren shrugged. "I can't see the sun..so.."

"Well.." Rivaille yawned. "I'm..really..sleepy..so.." His eyes blinked for a while, then drifted shut, head sinking onto the floor. Eren poked his head. "Commander?"

No response. "Rivaille?"

There was no movement. "Rivaille?!"

* * *

Yes, an evil cliffhanger. :D Muahah, I know, I am truly evil. ^^ But all of you have been amazingly awesome, so I'll update as soon as possible. :D Actually, I have the next chapter written out..just selfishly waiting for reviews so that I can update. ..Sorry, I know I sound like a hoard. But you know you love me~! No..probably not. Sorry, too busy to do an Omake this time.^^" But I promise that there'll be an awesome one next time! Fanservice! :D (sorry Rivaille!)

Whew… I love you guys~!

Until next time! Jjjaa nneeee!

K.K


	5. Chapter 5

Eren racked his brains for anything that would be life threating for Rivaille. The only he could come up with was the hailstone hitting him. "That can't be it, though.." he muttered. The hailstone hadn't been strong enough to do that much damage to his skull. He put his hand on Rivaille's chest gingerly. _Thump..Thump.._"Good..", he sighed, sitting back. "He's still alive."

Strangely, he found himself getting sleepy as well. He nestled on a crook in the wall, and was about to close his eyes, when..

"_Eren!"_ He shot up in panic, looking around for the source of the voice. It had strangely sounded like..Armin..but that couldn't be. Armin was miles away, still back at the base.

"_Eren! Wake up!" _

"Aren't I already awake?" Eren muttered, putting a hand to his forehead.

"_You can't sleep, Eren! You'll die! Eren! Wake up!" _

"I'm awake!" Eren slapped himself on his cheeks and rubbed his head, which was pounding a mile a minute. _"Eren! Remember? If you sleep in the cold, you'll die from the freezing weather! You have to stay awake!" _

"That's right.." Eren murmured, one time, he, Armin, and Mikasa had gotten lost in a blizzard that hit his province. They had bundled up under a straw wagon and huddled there together. Eren had found himself falling asleep after a while, head nodding off against the cold. Armin had kept on crying and pinching him, which he kept on swatting irritably away, wanting nothing more than to just sleep. What he didn't know was that if it was too cold, then your body would "shut down" and refuse to move. If Armin wasn't there, he would've died. Now, he had to do the same to Rivaille. He raised his hand, ready to slap the slumbering man, but froze halfway, too scared to do anything. He gulped and drew his hand back again, ready, but again, stopped halfway on his swing, this time sending his weight propelling forward. He landed on Rivaille with a "oof!", immediately looking at him to see if he was still asleep. He was. He quickly got up and brushed himself off, staring at Rivaille intently as if his gaze alone could wake up the man. It didn't.

He finally squeezed his eyes shut and raised his hand again. "It's for your own good!" he yelled as he "bravely" slapped the corporal. Of course, he wasn't Mikasa, so he missed, face planting the wall instead. After a while of tries and failures, he finally concluded that his arm didn't want to hit Rivaille. He settled for poking him. When that did nothing, he tried yanking his hair. Rivaille. Still. Wouldn't. Wake. Up.

Eren was slightly in a panic now. "Don't leave me!" he wailed. "I'll get lost and I'll get eaten by that titan and-I don't know what to do without someone hitting me every three seconds!" When his 'tear jerking' speech didn't do anything to Rivaille, Eren sat back on his heels and thought about everything Armin had told him. _"If all is lost, you would have to share body heat to warm the other person up. Thankfully, I didn't have to do that with you." _

Well..haven't tried that yet. Eren was taking off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt, when the full gravity of the situation hit him, "Eh?!" He looked back at Rivaille, who's head was still against the wall, eyes closed. He looked half dead already. If he was pale before, he was a ghost now. He gulped. "..it's for his own good, it's for his own good.." he chanted over and over, timidly unbuttoning the rest of his shirt and crawling by Rivaille, shivering in the exposed cold. "Should I take his clothes off?" he wondered. "I guess that would be the correct way to share body warmth.." he muttered, gingerly taking off the man's jacket and shirt.

He couldn't help his eyes from bugging out as soon as he saw the other's stomach. It was littered with scars and burn marks, probably from fighting and the 3D maneuver gear, but-_holy cow, how many were there?! _Well..no time now. Eren concluded, hoisting the body into his lap and spooning against it. "God, you're cold." He muttered as the icy temperature hit him. He started rubbing his arms soothingly, trying to get the blood flowing back, occasionally blowing warm puffs of air onto his neck. After a while, Rivaille felt a little warmer, which Eren was proud of. Eren didn't mind the cold as much as Rivaille did, probably because his body temperature was a little hotter than an average human's, thanks to his titan form. Rivaille let out a groan and shifted. Eren blinked, stopping for a minute. "Rivaille?" There was a slight, jerky movement coming from his leg. Eren continued rubbing his arms gently, blowing on his neck every once in a while. "Ugh.."

Rivaille shifted again, growing restless. "Rivaille?"

"Don't..leave me.." the commander's voice was frantic. "Don't.."

"It's okay, shhh, I'm here.." Eren tried to coo, but it ended up sounding like a dying bird. Although it seemed to do the trick, because Rivaille relaxed back into his arms, snuggling into the hallow of his neck. Eren didn't know what to do, but settled for putting his arms around Rivaille's back, staring at the ceiling of the cave determinately, trying to ward off the blush on his face.

~X~

Rivaille shuddered as he woke in a white vastness, only broken by the lines of faint ferns. "Is it..snowing?" he sleepily asked himself. "It's not cold, though.." he rubbed his eyes and looked at his hands. "eh?" Instead of being the battle worn hands of a soldier, they were soft and pink; the hands of a child. He touched his face and felt baby fat there, not worn away yet. "Rivaille!" A sweet voice called. "mom?" He turned around, looking for the source of the voice. "My Rivai-chan!"

"Kaa-san!" He sprinted forward, but found himself falling again. "Rivai!" the voice came again.

"Mom?" he asked despairingly, as he found no source. "Rivai!" it was fading now, echoing away.

"Don't leave me!" he cried as he frantically searched for his mother. "Mom? You promised! You promised you would never leave me!"

"You have someone else now, don't you?" Rivaille froze, his childish hands trembling. "No, only you!"

"What about Eren Jaegar?" Rivaille binked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you love him?"

"No." the answer was prompt in coming. "If he loved you, could you love him back?" He stomped his foot impatiently. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"To be honest, I don't know myself." The laughing voice of his mother faded away. "kaa-san? Kaa-san! Don't leave me! Kaa-san!"

His eyes flew open, gasping. There was a warm heat radiating comfortingly from his back. He turned to see the chin of Eren, who was staring at the wall, not aware that he had awaken yet. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were his own again. He looked at his arms and saw tanned hands there, comfortingly rubbing circles. There was a faint hum coming from Eren, and he was about to go back to sleep, when he looked down-and saw that he was shirtless. "Argh!" Eren was sent sprawling backwards, clutching his bloody nose. "What was that for?!"

"Where's my shirt?!" Rivaille growled, crouching close to the floor to hide his scar. "It's by the corner!" Eren inaptly waved his free arm up and down. "Do I even get a thank you?"

"For what?" Rivaille snapped, tugging his shirt on. "Saving your life?" Eren grumbled back.

"I didn't ask to be saved!" Rivaille yelled. Eren was taken aback for a moment.  
"What about me, then? You were the one who forced me to come, you have to take responsibility!"

"God, you sound like a pregnant woman!"

"And you sound like a dickless man!" They glared at each other for a few minutes, then Rivaille finally broke contact, refusing to say any more. Eren huffed and put his shirt and jacket on, straighting. "Fine, I won't do it in the future."

"…Thank you." A faint whisper came from Rivaille's mouth. Eren blinked in surprise, then quickly grinned and kissed Rivaille's cheek. "You're welcome."

"Did you just-"

Eren started whistling loudly, wandering to the entrance. "The sun's shining! We'd better get going!"

Rivaille just shook his head in disbelief, and looped on his jacket and swords, following Eren out of the cave.

They wandered around the mountain, both appreciating the way the sun glittered off the snow. Eren started talking about the whole 'Rivaille was passed out!' Disaster. "Then you started thrasing and screaming and I didn't know what to do, so I-"

"Shut up!" Rivaille fumed. "I don't want to hear anymore!"

Eren held up his hands in surrender. "Fine, whatever you say."

As they climbed on the mountain, Eren thought. _Why did I come with him, anyway? _He mumbled silently to himself. _I could've just gotten Mikasa and Armin, and escaped away. Why didn't I do that? All I had to do was take a few steps..why was that so hard to do? Maybe at that time I wasn't strong enough to pull away from his tempting offer. While I wanted so badly to escape living like hell, what really drew me was that figure that I've thought to be my dream since I was a kid. _He took another look at the man in question, who was trudging up the peak. _Of course, he's nothing like I imagined. _He smiled to himself. _He's better._

* * *

WHOOOOO YES SOME RIVAERE ACTIONNNNNNN! :D You guys don't know how long I've been waiting for this chapter!

So. For this Omake, I've decided to do a crossover. Those who have read Totally Captivated, raise your hands! *no hands* ..no one? D: Well, if you've read it, you'll probably get this Omake. For those of you who haven't..well..I reallyyyy recommend it. THE GUYS ARE FREAKING HOT ASKSKFJNSJ. *^* So. Eren will be…Ewon, And Rivaille, (as expected) shall be Mookyul.

Let's do this!

**AU Omake-**

(For those of you who have read it, this is the part where Mookyul and Ewon make their "contract".) Mookyul is a mafia boss; Eren became ensnared in the mafia business as a "cleaning" boy because of certain..*cough* events. Oh yeah. Recently, Eren became really sick and got a cold. Mookyul "saved his life"

"..Out of all the things you've mentioned, I like _lover _the most." Rivaille whispered, scooting closer to Eren.

"L-Lover?" Eren stuttered.

"Don't say no." Rivaille breathed against his ear. "I've waited for 10 years. I never forgot about you." He kissed the boy's ear gently and moved downwards, planting a trail of kisses down his neck. "I feel dizzy." Eren murmured. "From a cleaning boy to a lover is a big promotion-I can't seem to get my mind around it."

"Oh, that's right." Eren continued. "Didn't you say that you wanted to sleep with me at least once? I owe you one, so.." He started unbuttoning his shirt. "Not sure if I can satisfy you because it's my first time, but let's do it so that we'll be even."

Rivaille stopped kissing him and glared. "I saved you, but now that I think of it, now I want to kill you." He shoved Eren on the floor, grabbing his neck. "Do _not _make me angry." He growled. "Are you being a little shit because you think that I won't hurt you?! If that's what you think, you'd better check yourself!"

"O-Of course not, boss!" Eren franticly contradicted. "that's not it, but-"

"What is it then?!" Rivaille yelled. "You remembered me, too! You said you waited for me! _Or was that all just another lie?!_ Or maybe you felt like fucking with me with your bullshit even when you were half-conscious?"

"Ugh-" Eren got out; he couldn't breathe.  
"Oh..that's right." Rivaille's tone was more composed now, getting off of Eren. "You can't stand me, that's it. Then just say it..instead of fucking with my emotions."

"I said, that's not it!" Eren frantically called. "I.." _It was a warning. A harsh warning, worse than any I had gotten before. _"You what?" Rivaille snapped, impatient already.

"…" _If I live with him, get intimate with him, and receive his affection.._his gaze flashed up to Rivaille. _There's no doubt that I'll fall in love with this guy. _

_And tha,t will mean the end of the life that I've been living, the life that revolved around me, and me alone. __**That's why I have to run. **_

"I..don't like it when things get too serious." Eren got out. "I've never really lived with anyone but family..so.."

"Ha!' Rivaille laughed. "Did I say things would get serious between us?"

Eren's head snapped up in surprise. "Don't worry," the boss continued, "I'll make sure to dump your ass as soon as I get tired of you. Think hard," he said. "The two things you need most now are time and money, right? I can give them to you," he whispered, moving closer, putting a finger on Eren's chin. "What do you have to lose?"

"..So." Eren started. "I become your lover, but if I don't want that, I mooch off of you until you can't stand me. Then, you throw me some dough and tell me to beat it. Is that what you're saying?"

"For a sly bastard like yourself, it's an offer you can't refuse." Rivaille tossed a cigarette lighter up in the air and caught it deftly. "Don't you think?" he added, looking sideways at Eren.

Eren stayed silent for a while, not saying anything. "Answer me.", Rivaille commanded. "Do I have to remind you how goddamn impatient I am?"

"..That dosen't seem so bad.." Eren nodded. "I'll give it a try."

"Good.." Rivaille nodded. "So you're my lover now, hmm? Then," he grabbed Eren by the seat of his jeans. "Then we should get down like lovers and do the dirty."

"Hey! Wait!"

* * *

.I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and the omake. :D I'm actually really pleased with how this turned out. Please review to give this poor author coffee to make it through the next chapter!

(wow is the omake as long as the chapter?! o.o) opps..sorry guys. XD

…^/^ Okay. So…I have questions for you that will change the fate of this story. *le gasp* :O.

So.

1.) how many of you will continue reading this if I make it an M-rated story?

2.) Who should..er..top? Rivaille or Eren?

Right now, I think that this story is leaning more towards Eren topping, but honestly, I'm good with either way. : It's up to you, my dear readers! Majority wins!

Ja Ne! ~K.K

Reviews make me inspired to write smut. . And your reviews this time will change the fate of this story! :D


	6. Chapter 6

"Ugh…ahh!"

I arched up to that unfamiliar touch, gasping as something touched my chest. The hands were warm, and also rough, which seemed to hint at years of battle experience. There was a moment of brief hesitation, so minute I wondered if I'd imagined it, then a warm pair of lips attacked my own, nipping on my bottom one. "Mmmmh!" I gasped, opening my mouth, which the stranger seemed to take as permission to enter his tongue in.

Suddenly, I was strangely irked. _Why the hell was I on the bottom?! _Or what seemed like the bottom…Trying in vain to claw at the shoulders of my opponent, I only found purchase on warm, rough skin, accidently raking my nails across it. There came a low moan from that, as if the pain was what had caused that bout of pleasure. Suddenly I felt someone tugging at my ear, biting and nipping it. "Argh! Ah! S-Stop!" I saw a flash of dark hair from the head of the mysterious stranger.

The nipping only continued, growing rougher by each bite. I swore that I felt my ear bleeding. "Ah! No-" A hard _slap _came on my face. I was thoroughly confused now. Was the hell was this?! Rough sex?!

"EREN FUCKING JAEGER. EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

I frantically flailed my arms and accidently elbowed Rivaille in the nose. He sank back, cursing. "What the hell?"

"Ugh-Ahh-" The world around me was a frantic blur of color, splashing and swelling with each blink I took.

Something caught at my arms and steadied them. Soon after that arrived another harsh slap across my cheek. "Wake up!"

The trees started refocusing, as if before, I was staring out of a scratched magnifying glass. I rubbed my head and hung it between my shoulders. "Wha-what happened?" My voice sounded groggy even to my own ears. _Was that a dream?! _

Rivaille snorted and looked away. "We took a short rest on the way to the peak, and you fell asleep and started moaning and groaning and god knows what."

There was a uncomfortable warmth creeping up my face. "Moaning..and groaning?"

"Mmhh." Rivaille suddenly wore a sadistic smirk, sliding closer. "Oh? About who? Or, should I say, what?"

"What the fuck are you implying?!" I yelped and leaped away, crashing into a fern tree that shook its leaves down, covering my burning face.

Rivaille just rolled his eyes and bent down to pull his cloak on. "Come on, we're almost there to the top."

~X~

A faint mist had appeared the higher we got up. "It must look like a smoke ring from down below!" I called, trying to make conversation. Rivaille, being the sadistic jerk that he was, ignored my comment with a rough grunt. Sighing in defeat, I joined the man's upward journey, the handkerchief that he gave me still flapping around my face. Suddenly, there was a loose pebble from the niche that I had rested my foot in, and with a yelp of surprise, I was falling.

A hand gripped mine from above, leaving my feet dangling in empty air. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried not to look down, but nevertheless, my eyes disobeyed me and peeked anyway. There was nothing but fog dangling around the mountain, covering everything down below from view.

I couldn't decide if that was a blessing or a curse. A blessing that I couldn't see what was down below, or a curse the same way, because then I could land on practically _anything _and wouldn't know. I gripped Rivaille's hand tighter, holding it like the lifeline that it was.

"Troublesome.." I heard a sharp mutter as I found another hollow in the rock. The mountain was being more and more vertical as we went up. Now, instead of merely walking, we had to climb and crouch, or else we would find ourselves falling off in a lovely Ariel spiral.

I squinted up, looking for the heel of Rivaille's boot. It was still up there, calmly finding the next foothold by touch and feel; effortlessly hoisting Rivaille up. Me? I was a fucking turtle, moving and grappling from side to side.

"Hurry!" the impatient voice of the man came up. I blinked and tried in vain to wave the fog away; Rivaille's foot was gone. "Eh?"

"The peak's here, you dumbass."

He was right, for suddenly I found myself scrambling for another handhold and finding none. My head collapsed on partly level ground with a loving _ooof _as my brain made contact with the soil. Rivaille wrinkled up his nose in disgust and started out past the rim of the mountain. To my surprise, the peak of the mountain wasn't actually a _peak. _It was more like-those anthills. I nodded to myself. There was actually a shallow dip in the middle, decorated by an overlying boundary of rock. Rivaille was crouching over a rim, peering down at the descent below. I quickly joined him, not wanting to miss out. "What?" I suddenly felt the need to whisper instead of talk; this was a sacred Rivaille concentration moment.

"Look." Was his simple reply. I tried again to swat the fog away, but to no anvil. Rivaille sighed and took my head in his hands and simply yanked it towards the direction he was facing, paying no heed to my neck. "Argh! Ow! Stop it!" All my protests died down as I saw the smoldering remains of a wreaked town. "What the hell.." I exhaled. "There are no outlying towns from outside the wall..they would've been killed and eaten a long time ago! And this one is recent too.." I added.

Rivaille shook his head. "Apparently not."

A low keen sounded in the background. It seemed to be coming from the wreckage. "It seems like there are still titans there as well." He commented again.

I just nodded, narrowing my eyes. Damn that fog. Damn Rivaille's perfect vision.

"Hey! Look!" The fog had shifted a bit, revealing a little bit of a dark blue color to the east.

"Is that water?"

"I think it's an ocean." I laced my fingers together. "Do you think there could be other continents on the other side of the ocean?"

Rivaille snorted. "Yeah, right. Maybe." He replied to my question.

"Do you think there are titans there, then? Maybe there are even more humans, and they're building some kind of special defense that's more superior to ours!"

"Your imagination is freaking screwed up."

"Mmm. Imagination is the only weapon against reality." I looked at him, smiling. "That's what my mom taught me."

He seemed to stiffen for a moment, then shifted his weight, sending loose pebbles scattering down. We never heard the clunk of them dropping.

"If there were no titans, and you were a normal human, what would you be?"

"Eh?" I blinked at him in surprise. Rivaille wasn't normally one for conversation. "..Hmm." I put my chin in my hands, pondering. "A geologist or marine biologist, probably."

"What the hell is that?"

"People who study the earth and ocean. What would you be?" I asked him as an afterthought.

"…A janitor." He affirmed. I looked at him for a moment, then burst out in hysterics. "A-A-A-_janitor_?! Bwaahahahhhhahhhhh-"

He kicked me in the shin, scowling. "What? It's a perfectly decent job!"

"B-b-ut, You! _As a janitor_?! I can't imagine it to save my life!" I burst out laughing again, Rivaille finally giving up and ignoring me with a scowl on his face. When I finally stopped laughing, I looked for a change of topic.

"How do we get down?" I asked, tapping the edge of the mountain. The downwards drop seemed steep, and I sure as hell wasn't backtracking the other way.

Rivaille analyzed the situation with me and simply shrugged. "Easy."

"Then wha-AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rivaille had kicked me with his boot, a touch that I was very familiar with. I toppled over on my face, sliding down that way. _Didn't Rivaille fucking know what gravity did to you?! _I finally got my stomach caught on an overhanging branch, using that opportunity to thankfully catch my breath. Rivaille gracefully came sliding down from above, smirking at me curiously. "What's wrong, Jaegar? Keep up."

"This is your revenge, isn't it?"

I grumbled under my breath, but nevertheless following him (more carefully) down the rest of the mountain. "That was it?!"

We were at the bottom now, dusting ourselves off. "Our two day trip up the mountain was for nothing?!"

Rivaille merely shrugged and went back to dusting his boots off with his handkerchief. "Gravity."

Was his simple answer.

I tried to look disgusted and snort, but at Rivaille's skeptical look, I probably passed off looking like a goddamn idiot. I peered at the stretch of land before us. It extended on all directions, long grass stalks waving in the winds. Those strips of grass came up all the way to Rivaille's boots, but only went up as far as halfway on mine. I looked at the person in question, who was sniffing the hem of his shirt right now, wearing a thoroughly disgusted expression. "I'm sure there'll be a stream somewhere along here.." I tried to comfort him.

Rivaille just blinked at me and released his shirt. "Probably not. It's plains as far as the eye can see. Did you bring a change of clothes?"

I frowned and rummaged through my bag, face lighting up as I found what I was looking for. "here!" I tossed the fabric to Rivaille.

Rivaille deftly flicked it open, an imperious eyebrow raised. "..is this even a shirt?"

"Yes." I grumpily defended my choice of clothing.

"It's fucking _huge_." Indeed, when Rivaille was holding the shirt up, it went as far down as his toes.

"I don't know." It fit pretty well on me, but I had gotten a bigger shirt than I was used to wearing for pajamas.

Rivaille stuffed it in his bag, wincing. "I'll change later."

_What the hell was smelling so bad?! _I sniffed my shirt like he did, wincing at the slightly…_burt? _Smell that was wafting from the fields. Wait…I smelled my shirt again. "That's not us." Rivaille turned, handkerchief ready to protect against any kind of cleansing danger.

"What?"

"That smell! It's not us! It's coming from the fields!" A dank and burning smell was oozing from beyond the rest of the plains.

"What the hell could smell that bad?"

I shrugged and started tromping through the grass. "Only one way to find out."

Rivaille waited for a moment, testing to see if his boots would get stuck with mud. They didn't. He grumbled and started walking too, wincing as some of the tall grasses would brush his chin, reminding him of his shortness.

~X~

The smell grew even more unbearable as we went deeper into the field. "Is it coming from the town that we saw?" I asked.

"It's too far away." Rivaille reasoned. "Something here is causing it."

"Hopefully it's not titan shit or something."

"Titan's can't shit, you dumbass."

"It could go out throu-"

Rivaille just plugged his ears. I cut off and huffed. "It's impossible trying to make conversation with you."

"It's troublesome trying to talk." His blunt reply came.

I was about to retort, when a small bubble formed under my feet. "What the hell?"

Rivaille stopped, looking curiously at the bulbous liquid bubble that was under my feet. "…Is that.." It burst, sending forth a shot of the smell that was so unbearable. I groaned and held my stomach, which was empty already. It was worse for Rivaille, who'd grown up with the ever entrancing smell of soap and cleaning.

More bubbles were now oozing out, popping one by one. The smell was making me dizzy; the world was spinning again. The bubbles came quicker and quicker and then-"Run!"

I started running away from the bubbles, but Rivaille was still frozen, staring in disgusted horror at them. Frantically I ran back, tugging on his arm. He seemed to get the message and ran after me, but his legs were too short to do much through the grass. "Don't kill me for this.." I whimpered, picking him up and swinging him over my shoulder. "WHAT THE FUCKING-"

"Sorry, sir!" I minutely forgot our status now. "This is a necessity!"

I started running through the grass, trying to get the furthest away from the bubbles as possible. They were growing bigger in size now, exploding and sending little black flecks hurling onto our faces.

When I had deemed us far enough, I dumped Rivaille unceremoniously onto the grass, bending over to catch my breath. He sprang up, spitting out dirt and weeds. "What the hell was that for?!"

I pointed to the bubbles, and gasped. "Wait for it.."

One..Two..three…

A mighty fountain of black sludge erupted, spewing the disgusting smell to a point so climatic, I thought I had lost my sense of smell. It showered the grass with brown blobs, which immediately sank into the ground. That was the source of all the bubbles, I realized. As the ground heated up, the old sulfur would melt, and create bubbles, popping under the heat to release that-

"What is that?" Rivaille hissed, looking at the sprout.

"A sulfur geyser." I affirmed. "It should stop soon."

And stop it did, wheezing down into a little mud puddle, then disappearing entirety.

Rivaille gingerly walked towards it, poking the edge with his boot, which fizzled a little.

"First four armed titans and now this..what is the world coming to?"

"Actually.." I put my arms around my head. "I think that this was here all along..it could've been a landmark attraction, actually, back in the non-titan days.."

"who would want to see this piece of shit?!"

"Eh. The crazy ones."

Rivaille adjusted the handkerchief around his face. "..Let's get going to that town. Maybe it'll give us some answers."

"It's just rubble now, what could be in there?"  
"Don't forget the titan we saw." Rivaille reminded, stalking on ahead.

* * *

How can you guys to this to me?! *tears* I am conflicted! QAQ Okay. So..I regret to say..

_THE VOTES FOR EREN OR RIVAILLE TOPPING ARE EQUAL. _

…Yeah. Um…can they both be on top? *gets smacked for thinking such an idea*

Okay! Sorry! Sorry! So..um..I guess..the poll goes on until one side triumphs! :D

But..some people seem to want me to give Eren a chance to top..

While the others think that it would be really OOC of Rivaille if he didn't top…

So. Yeah.

Whew. But the M-Rated thing… XD I will definitely change the rating up to M after the next chapter or two. But..just a fair warning, this is my first time writing smut. So..if someone wants to help me…put it in a review, and I'll PM you and stuff. It's like a Smut beta? ^^"

But the smut that I've been selfishly withholding for so long will be released soon! Thanks for having the patience to stick with me this long! *bows*

hope you like the Eren POV this time..I decided to try something new! (yay!)

I love you guys!

Until Next time! Ja ne!

K.K

AD-Looking for a Smut BETA. Whoever's good at writing smut..basically.

Reviews will make the rating go up to M quicker (yeahyeahyeah!) and will decide the fate of Rivaille or Eren topping! May the best side win…*clapcalp* good luck to you all!

**Rivaille fans-**No. EREN IS NOT TOPPING! OUR HEICHOU WILL DEFEAT ALL!

**Eren fans-**Give Eren a chance! There are barely any Eren topping fanfics out there! That poor boy!

*sqabblesqabble*

**Netruality- ***watches while eating popcorn*


	7. Chapter 7

Mud stuck to the bottom of Rivaille's boots as he and Eren walked out of the sulfur pit. He hissed in annoyance and was about to swat the mud away when he realized that he could end up making himself and his hand even dirtier. So, without any choice left, he had to simply leave it. This pissed him off to no end. Being dirty was a _sin_.

Eren was being his usual naive self and tromping ahead, not seeming to mind the tall ferns that brushed his calves. Rivaille irritably swatted a fern away, hearing it snap back into position after his hand left it. They were closer to the town now, which was giving off a strong cone of smoke, whirling and twisting like mad demons in the sky.

"Is the titan still there?" Eren asked him quietly. Rivaille grunted and waved a hand over his eyes, shielding them against the sun. A faint roar answered him. "Yep."

"Can I change this time?" Eren almost begged him. "If it's an abnormality, we still don't have a way to defeat them yet, and who knows, we could get hurt-and,"

"Fine!" Rivaille snapped. "We're on the other side of the mountain anyway, but who knows, there could be more villages like this one! And what would they say to a fighting titan?"

"…" Eren considered his logic for a moment. "In a emergency, I'm still changing."

"What if it goes rampart and rages out of control?"

"You'll stop it, right? You haven't grown a pot belly yet, so.."

Rivaille glared at him and smacked his head. "Because I obviously have a pot belly."

"It was a joke! A joke!"

"Forget it. We're here." Rivaille slid his sword out with a soft slither, withdrawing the other one too. They gleamed in the light of the cloudy sun. Eren mimicked the other's movement, warily watching.

Eren gulped and clutched his sword so tightly that his hands were shaking. Rivaille gave him a skeptical look. "Are you honestly trying to back down on this one?"

"What? No!" Eren snapped back. "Just…it could be another abnormal.." he murmured, gulping. "And if what you said was right and I can't change because people could be watching..then we'll die out here, right?"

Out of all the things that he expected Rivaille to say, he didn't expect a hard kick behind his legs. The sky and ground reversed, and he found himself staring at Rivaille's half-lidded eyes. "You're starting to sound like Armin now," he scoffed. "What happened to that cocky brat that I knew? The one that would always rush into everything? What happened to him?"

Eren turned slightly to escape the intense pressure. "Maybe he grew up." He suggested. "Maybe he actually saw how the world was, and understood reality?"

Rivaille didn't have anything to say to that. He straightened up from his crouch and brushed his pants off. "Let's go. We have to stick together."

Eren nodded, shaking the dirt out of his hair, and following the slight figure of Rivaille as he wandered deeper into the town. Old signs creaked and wind whistled through the gaping holes of some of the houses. Both men were on full alert, ready to fight at a given moment. Suddenly, Eren tripped over a small bump and would've fallen if Rivaille hadn't caught him. "Watch it!" Eren cursed, feeling for what he tripped over. It was a small box, with multiple colors. Sand was falling out of the little gaps in between each one. They both stared at it curiously, each wondering what its purpose was. "..Should we open it?" Eren asked. Rivaille grunted. "Why not?"

Eren tried to pry it open, but to no anvil. "Does it even open?"

Rivaille beckoned to him. "Let me try."

Eren threw the box to him. Rivaille turned it over in his hands, a skeptical look on his face. "Dumbass. It dosen't open."

"How was I supposed to know?! What does it do, anyway?"

Rivaille frowned and turned a side. The whole side rotated, changing the colors. Eren looked at it in awe. "That's fucking awesome!"

Rivaille glared. "What's the point of this thing?"

"Maybe we have to make every side the same color? It's interesting anyway. Can I keep it?" Eren held out his outstretched hands. Rivaille raised an eyebrow and threw it to him. "If you can fit it in your bag. Look for any kind of food, too. Canned, or preserved."

Eren absentmindly nodded, fingering the cube again. Rivaille just rolled his eyes and tugged Eren's arm, leading him on.

The rest of the village that they explored wasn't full of interesting things as the cube was. Rivaille and Eren had invaded every house-(though in Rivaille's theory, they didn't invade, they merely scavenged) for food and supplies, although it turned out that all of them were spoiled or rotten, and the most dangerous thing that they could use was a kitchen Wisk.

As they got closer to the east side, they heard a harsh breathing; which made the ground shake under their feet. Rivaille cautioned Eren back with a sweep of his arm, drawing out his sword and holding it in defense position. In front of them was a _sleeping _titan-hell, did titans even sleep?!

Eren murmured, "Is it an abnormal?" Rivaille peeked at its limbs. "It seems to have two of each, I think we're good." He crept up behind the titan, motioning Eren to stay where he was. Cocking his blade in the defensive position, he was about to strike it's weak point when-

"ARRRGGGHHHHH!" A gigantic fist grabbed him tightly, cutting off a bit of his air supply. His sword fell with a clatter on the ground, and he frantically tried to twist out, but his arms were pinned by his sides. _Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit-_

He chanted inside his head. _What do I do now?! _Never had Rivaille been caught in a situation like this. He was always too smart for such things. "Rivaille!"

Oh, that's right. The brat was still here. He nodded to him tensely. "Strike it! Hurry!" Eren moved swiftly, shooting onto the roof of a abandoned building and aiming for its neck. The gigantic mouth in front of Rivaille was moving ever closer, threatening to eat him, chomp him, grind him, with those crooked teeth of its. "It's an abnormal!" Eren screamed. Rivaille shook his head. "What?!"

"There's an eye on the back of its head!"

"HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT STOP YOU FROM KILLING IT?!"

"It sees where I'm going!"

Rivaille paused for a moment. Sure enough, the titan was swaying and moving back and forth, evading Eren's every attack. "Is there a protection on its back?"

"Yes!"

Rivaille cursed under his breath. "I'm well dead by now." He tried in vain to move again, but this time his foot got caught in his maneuver strap. And the horrifying face was moving closer each moment. The other hand was reaching forward too, as if to rip his head off. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Eren was desperately trying to get to its weak point or ankles, both of which were moving targets. All the while, Rivaille could smell the rancid breath of the titan, which was making him dizzy as hell. He coughed as the titan held him even tighter, spitting out blood. This seemed to motivate the abnormality even more; it licked its lips greedily and was about to throw him in his mouth when suddenly-

It _wheezed _and doubled over in half. Rivaille suspiciously looked down. Eren had dug both of his swords into its stomach, which was oozing out a dark, gluttonous blood. The hold now loosened, Rivaille pried himself away and sprung up on the bridge of its nose, drawing two more blades out of his silver container. He shoved them into both eyes, directly into the open pupils. The titan let out a scream of fury and fear, and covered his eyes, which splattered large drops of gore onto the road, not unlike acid rain. Eren was still trying to tear its stomach apart, thinking that if he could strike it in the heart, maybe that would be better. _Titans had no hearts, _Rivaille thought, scoffing at the boy's foolishness. He used that as a distraction, however, and ran around to its back, swords out and ready. The monstrous eye on the back leered at him. As he got closer, he realized that it had no eyelid, and was a fixed beam, staring at him. "Makes it all the easier." He sneered. Aiming, he threw his dagger into the dark eye, which started rolling in pain. The good side? The eye was useless now. The bad side? It would heal soon and Rivaille's sword was still stuck in it.

Deciding to attack now and plan later, he faced the biggest challenge. The same disgusting bump was stretched over the spinal cord, just like the other abnormality. Knowing that just pushing the sword in was no use, he jabbed the sword to the skin and _twisted _it, jabbing his foot on the sword as a lever once it got down enough. He could distantly hear Eren's yells as the titan was going for him, but solely concentrated on this, sweat dripping down his nose in concentration. "Come on come on come on-"

The tip of the sword pierced the weak point, and he could feel the titan give a shiver. His sword was almost buried to the hilt now. He cursed and took out another one, jabbing and twisting right next to the previous attack. Eren screamed, falling through the sky as the titan managed to knock him sideways off his stomach. Moving faster now, Rivaille took out his last and final sword and inserted it next to the previous two. There was a pause after he was done, and after he was certain that he'd failed, there was a shuddering vibrating from the titan, and with a high keen that confirmed that it was not human, it fell with a heavy thump, shaking the abandoned houses and streets with its weight. Rivaille, who'd lept aside as the titan fell, came back down to retrieve his swords from the titan's neck. Eren, who was groggily untangling himself from the titan's fist, looked at him. "Where to now?"

Rivaille started at his swords in disgust; they were smeared with titan blood. "We'll stay at an abandoned house that doesn't have cockroaches. We'll travel more tomorrow."

Eren nodded, getting his skewered swords from the other side of the titan.

~X~

Rivaille silently cleaned his swords with a dusty towel that he found, and Eren was mulling over the cube that he had found. The sides were refusing to match up, he discovered. As soon as he'd got one side complete, then the others would refuse to match, and he had to re-do it, messing up his finished side, and then the whole cycle would start again. Rivaille raised an eyebrow imperiously. "You're wasting your time with that piece of junk."

Eren grunted. Rivaille waited for another response, and when none was forthcoming, he stopped cleaning his swords and set them down with a sigh. "Sometimes I wonder if I should've just brough Hanji along instead."

Eren jerked, messing up his cube yet again. "Fuck-Wait, what?"

Rivaille inclined his head. "What I just said. Why didn't I bring Hanji along?" he mused to himself. "She's a great fighter, she would listen, and most of all, she probably would've found a way to defeat those titans by now. Rivaille didn't tell him, but this was actually a way to get Eren secretly riled up. That boy had been too quiet lately, he mused. And that was making him edgy.

He heard a drop of a hard object on the floor and looked up to see a dark shadow stalking towards him. "What are you-" Eren put his hands on his commander's shoulders and roughly pushed him towards the bed in the corner. "Hey, this is-"

Rivaille soon felt his knees hit the back of the bed, and his boots soon became tangled with the bedsheets. "Mmmh!" he couldn't talk anymore, because Eren had quickly ensnared his lips with a branding kiss that Rivaille swore was a thousand degrees.

* * *

I had to re-write this chapter so many times….you guys don't even know. So. The winner of the poll was….Rivaille! But! The Eren fans were only 2 points less! :D So, because of all your awesome reviews and feedback, there will be some Eren topping, I promise! *bows* And don't worry, all you Rivaille fans, this *points upward to fic* will be a Rivaille top moment. Okay. Just warning you…I'm going on vacation soon! And next week I have colorguard camp for 9 hours every day! *yay lets cheer for this pathetic author!* So. I might not update as soon as I do now..the whole reason I've been updating a lot this week is because it's summer..And I got so many reviews I swore I would explode from happiness.

I don't think that this will be the last chapter I publish before I leave to YellowStone park..(yes, seeing the geyser in person! WHOO!) Bears, too. XD

Because that would be cruel, leaving you guys hanging.

Rating will change to M next chapter! :D Am I the only one who's happy about this?

Guess what the mysterious cube is! ..Although I made it painfully obvious, didn't I? ^^"

Until next time! Ja~ Ne~!

K.K

Reviews will make me try to wite until 1:00am (yes review motivation!), and reviews will convince Rivaille and Eren that they are meant to be~

**Rivaille&Eren-**WTF!?

Byeeee!


	8. Chapter 8

"Argh!" Rivaille frantically tried to push the other boy off, cursing his height and statute. "What are you-gerrof!" Eren had kissed him again, effectively silencing the other. "Mpph!" Rivaille wouldn't help leaning into the kiss, though..just a little, _not for that purpose, dammit! _It just felt so…right, and besides, Rivaille hadn't gotten laid in a long time. He slowly wrapped his arms around Eren, opening his mouth to the kiss. Eren eagerly poked his tongue in Rivaille mouth, exploring every inch of the warm cavern, all the while slowly taking Rivaille's jacket off.

He impatiently threw the piece in the corner, going back to ravishing Rivaille's mouth. Rivaille frantically came back up to meet him, each battling for dominance over the other.

Suddenly, while Eren was in the middle of tugging Rivaille shirt off, he stopped suddenly, frozen. Rivaille looked at him with half-lidded eyes, irked. "What the hell now? Get on with it!"

There was an uncomfortable bulge in his pants that couldn't be taken back now..

Eren blushed furiously. "it's just that..um..I'm..er..that is.." Rivaille impatiently rolled his eyes and tugged on Eren's arms, effectively getting his shirt off. "Just go along with it! You're not going to back down now, are you?" He narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"No! It's just-"

"Forget it!" Rivaille clicked his teeth together and flipped him over deftly, so that their positions were reversed. "Pussy." He licked the corner of Eren's ear, an inner part of him enjoying the tiny gasp that the boy had made. "Engh.." Eren whimpered as Rivaille's roaming hands traveled the rest of his body, rubbing his hipbones. "..You're wearing too much." Rivaille said in a deft whisper, throwing Eren's jacket to the corner of the room. Eren couldn't help but agree, tugging his shirt off as well. Rivaille kissed his mouth quickly, then slowly drew a line down his neck, licking and biting a certain spot. Eren clasped his hands around the other's waist, fighting to keep from trembling and gasping in pain-or was it ecstasy?

Rivaille did that for a while, trailing a line of kisses all the way down to his chest. Finally he stopped at Eren's nipples, which were perked in the light of the moon. He drew his mouth across one bud, waiting for a response. Eren jerked and clutched his hair tighter. "Ahh-"

Motivated by the action, he bent his head once more and attacked the dusky nub, licking and biting it; causing moans of pleasure from the brown haired soldier.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands on his face, tugging them up. He looked at Eren, whos face was a red as a beetroot. "Hell, what now?" He groaned.

Eren just bit his lip and nervously moved his hands to Rivaille's chest. "C-Can I touch you too?"

Rivaille snorted and stopped "molesting" him, arching his back up. "Do I need to remind you what we are now?"

Eren just shook his head for a moment, then threw Rivaille back on the bed. Rivaille winced as his head hit a daft piece of wood sticking out from the bespost. "Ahh" Eren licked Rivaille's lips, smiling as he moved away from them. He then took Rivaille's hand in his, and started licking the digits one by one, giving each loving and certain attention. Rivaille was panting from the sensation now, not sure what he should do this situation-kiss Eren? Or just stay here and act like a fucking blow-up doll? He didn't get a chance to chose as he felt Eren's hair tickle his neck, mouth on his nipple, imitating what he had done to him a second ago. And it felt like pure heaven. He moaned and clutched Eren's hair to his chest. "Ahh-" Eren looked up, smirking devilishly. Rivaille would've deadpanned, but god, that look-_It was damn sexy. _He felt a pair of warm hands tugging his pants down, untying the leather straps of his maneuver gear quickly. His legs felt exposed in the windy air that was wafting through the door; he shivered slightly. Eren looked at him in quick concern. Rivaille pursed his lips together, pissed. _Why the hell was he on the bottom?! He was Rivaille, for god's sake! _"Argh!" He reached up and flipped Eren on his back, pulling down his pants as well, roughly tugging off the maneuver straps. He would've broken them if not for the fact that this was their only current pair at the moment.

There was an obvious bump between Eren's legs, straining against the fabric of his boxers. Rivaille was about to rip them off too, when-"Wait!"

He nearly snapped. _How many times had this fucking kid stopped him?! _"What the fuck is it now?! Are you trying to be a tease?!" He demanded.

Eren looked surprise, then shook his head and blushed. "No! Just..I've never done this before.."

This made him stop. _This kid was a virgin? _Rivaille thought, surprised. He always saw him hanging out with Armin and Mikasa, and he had assumed that Eren had banged at least one of them already. "You're a virgin?'

"..Yes." The way that Eren admitted that was adorable in its own way. Rivaille just sighed and shook his head. "..I'll go slow."

Eren blinked at him, peering through his fingers. "Really?"

"Mmmhmm." Rivaille absentmindly nodded, fingers hooking around the waistband of Eren's boxers. Eren didn't stop him this time, so he continued pulling them down, watching as Eren's arousal sprang up, free from its confines.

Rivaille planted a kiss at its tip, enjoying the whimpers that Eren made. With a sadistic smile, he eloped the rest of its length in his mouth, bobbing his head up and down in a steady rhythm. Eren gasped and clutched his hair. "Ahh-not there! I'm-ugh.." Rivaille didn't stop, only going in and out even quicker. Eren blushed beet red and let out a long moan; coming in Rivaille's mouth. Rivaille hesitantly held it in his mouth for a moment, then spat it out on the floor, coming over a dominant crouch over Eren again. Eren looked away, face buried into the old mattress of the bed. Rivaille tugged his own boxers down, watching as his own manhood sprang up from its own confines. He slowly spread Eren's legs apart, watching the boy with calculating eyes.

Eren just looked back at him, abeit confused. "where.."

Rivaille shook his head; this was an awkward topic. "I'd rather not talk about it. Just..stay off your ass for awhile."

He drew two fingers to his mouth, coating them with a gloss of saliva. He slowly inserted one finger, stopping when it was buried to the knuckle. When Eren nodded, he pushed it all the way in, loosing the entrance. He then drew another finger in, wiggling it around the caravan.

Once he deemed that Eren was loose enough, he slowly positioned himself inbetween Eren's legs. "R-" One look from the boy was enough. His face, with the faintest of blushes on it, and his hair, splayed out and sweaty, was a erotic picture that Rivaille swore to lock in his mind forever; a mental picture of that wonderful night.

He gripped Eren's thighs and spread them out gently, trying to being kind for the first time. Eren stiffened beneath him, uncertain of what to do next. "Trust me.." Rivaille whispered, planting a gentle-_gentle? _Kiss to Eren's lips. Eren frantically drew his arms around his neck and kissed back, opening his mouth to the other man. Rivaille placed the tip of his digit in front of Eren's twitching entrance, took a deep breath, then inserted the tip in gently. Eren's hold on the blankets tightened; it felt like the first touch of a branding iron. Rivaille pushed halfway in, groaning in pleasure when Eren clenched shut. Tears started leaking out of Eren's eyes. "Shit..argh…stop it!"

Rivaille simply blinked at him, and in response, shoved all the way in. Eren screamed then, a wild shout that Rivaille _swore _wasn't human. He withered, trashing on the blankets, which only made the pain worse. "Take it out! Take it out! It hurts like a bitch!"

Rivaille smirked. "Wasn't it you who wanted this?" He pushed in again, looking for that certain place-a gasp alerted him when he found it. He hit his button over again and again, listening with sadistic pleasure when Eren's cries came. With a final shiver, he came inside Eren, who was crying with the pain now.

He finally drew out, the tip of his manhood leaking cum onto the soiled sheets. Eren had stopped crying now, and was just simply staring at the peeling wall, breathing in and out evenly. Rivaille stopped for a moment, trying to clean himself up. He frowned, then turned Eren's head and kissed him gently on the lips, trying to heal whatever wound he had made. "Are you okay?" This was a total non-Rivaille thing to do, but he couldn't help feeling mild concern for the boy.  
"..Yeah. It…felt good." He admitted, almost shy. Rivaille hummed in content and drew his arms around the taller boy, spooning into him. At that time, even though Eren was in a throbbing pain, he swore that there could not be a more perfect moment than this.

"So.." Rivaille murmered drowsily. "Are we fuck buddies now?"

Eren blinked. "I mean, we have to classify as..something, right?" Rivaille asked.

Eren turned over on his side, facing the man. "I…would like to do it again." He replied, staring into the others eyes.

Rivaille let out a soft _humph_, then turned away from him. "Let's…make a contract."

Eren shot up. "What?"

Rivaille just entwined his fingers together. "There..has to be rules."

Eren nearly snorted and rolled his eyes. _Of course he just had to have rules, even during sex.._

"Number one." He bluntly stated. "No complaints, whatsoever." Eren nodded hesitantly, agreeing.

"Number two. Rivaille is always on top, unless under other conditions."

This one Eren was going to object to. "What the fuck-"

"Number three." Rivaille steamrolled over him, glaring at Eren through strands of black hair. "None of this _falling in love _crap. Do you understand?"

Eren gaped, opening and closing his mouth like a koi fish. "Y-Yes..sir." He quietly said back.

Rivaille looked a little surprised at the the old title, but recovered and drew Eren to him again, enjoying the warmth of the other's skin.

"Um..Rivaille?"

"Hmm?" Rivaille drowsily murmered.

"If..we ever get out of this.."

"Yeah?"

"..Never mind." Eren turned to the wall, face burning at the thought he'd almost formed.

_If we ever get out of this…._

* * *

….Holy flying cows. WE BROKE 100 REVIEWS! *tearteartear* I know that it's pretty weird to give a long author's note after all the smut above…but..um..I tried my best? QAQ I know, I know, it's a bit awkward since its my first time writing a smut..I'm no longer a smut writer virgin now! *wahhh JKJK, XD*

But-seriously. All you reviewers...you guys cheer me up so much, if it's a bad day at school or I lost a follower on Tumblr…(Tumblrers, you should know the pain! :D) ..I love you all. And I just wanted you to know, I read each and every review at least two times, and that alone is enough to give me the inspiration to update. Come here, you! *hugs* I know that I've said this before..but-

_I love all of you so freaking much. _You guys make my day, make me smile, cry (wait, what?!) laugh…I don't know _how _the hell you do it..you guys have freaking magical powers or something..(don't worry, I don't love you in a creepy way. ;)

So. Now that's over..*wipes away tears*

Whosha! My next goal is 200! Let's do this! *gets out Rivaille cleaning gear*

Oh yeah. I promised that I would randomly choose one reviewer if I ever hit 100, and write them a 4,000 word oneshot..*sly look* you'll find out who won in the next chappie! :D I'll be contacting you soon if you won! Look for it eagerly! :)

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

P.S ColorGuard camp is tourture! D: My legs feel dead..like spaghetti noodles….there might be a slight delay in writing, because of Colorguard camp and Yellowstone! :D Can't wait to go and sketch all the grizzly bears! I hope you all will stick with me to the end! *bows*

P.P.S reviews will make this author feel guilty and write write write Rivaere smut!


	9. Chapter 9

There was a wisp of silence surrounding Rivaille and Eren as they walked slowly out of the village together. Rivaille was regretting the fact that he didn't bring soap, or any kind of cleaning supplies along, because he was sweaty and godamn _sticky _from last night's events. Eren wasn't faring much for the better, awkwardly plodding along like a penguin. Each time he took a step, he winced in pain, and a sadistic part of Rivaille congratulated himself for that.

"I'm hungry." Eren groaned, putting a hand over his stomach, which let out a faint grumble; proving his fact. Rivaille rolled his eyes and beckoned him over to a sparse tree that was overhanging the plains. They rested together there, breathing evenly against the sky. Rivaille rummaged in his bag for the piece of bread that he'd found at the village site, then broke off a small corner and gave it to Eren, who devoured it on instant. "Save some for later." He absentmindly chided, eyes wandering to the continuous outstretch of sand. Eren just grumbled something irritably back, but slowed down nevertheless, following Rivaille's instructions.

Rivaille frowned as he looked ahead, wincing at the thought of no cover or protection, in case a titan did come. And since there were barely any trees anywhere, they would have to use their precious gas supply to fight, if a titan did appear. He brushed himself off and stood up, offering Eren a hand. The boy took it and heaved himself up, stifling a yawn from behind his mouth.

"We're going to have to be extra careful out there," Rivaille mentioned, motioning to the plains.

"Yeah, Yeah." Eren flippantly replied, still gnawing on his bread like it was a lifeline, and Rivaille guessed, that in some ways, it was.

They both approached the bleak outstretch of sand together, which Rivaille later learned from Eren, was called a _desert. _Pretty ironic, he thought. For the words _dessert_ and _desert _to be so similar. _For all we know, this could mean our deaths if we don't approach it the correct way. _

_And, no way in hell that there'll be a stream here. Which means..we'll have to..ah..restrain ourselves from certain "activities." _He looked at the person beside him, who had finished part of his bread and was currently tucking the rest away for later. "You ready?"

Eren nodded, brushing his sweaty bangs out of the way and squinting at the sun. "It'll probably be really hot out there," Eren told Rivaille, "So it would be better if we wore loose, comfortable clothing."

Rivaille blinked at him, then smirked. "are you implying something?"

"What?! No!" Eren violently protested. "Stop twisting my words!"

Rivaille just thumped him on the back. "You know I was joking."

Eren smacked his hand away playfully, ignoring the part of him that secretly wished he wasn't.

~X~

Only three hours had passed, and they both were dying. Never had Rivaille experienced such a severe heat wave as this, even in all his years in the Recon Corps. Poor Eren was even less accustomed to the heat, but thanks to his semi-titan form, he didn't mind for it that much.

"Oh, screw that!" Rivaille stopped and yanked his blade carriers out from his pants; the sand made a muffled _clunk _sound when they dropped.

He then proceeded to throw off his jacket, much to Eren's dismay, throwing that on the sand as well. Taking off his shirt was going a little too far though, Eren thought, and he was about to open his mouth and say something, when Rivaille threw off his pants as well. The fabric hit Eren in his face, and he awkwardly opened and closed his mouth against the dry fabric. When he finally threw it off, he saw Rivaille tugging on the gigantic shirt that he'd given him a few days ago, wincing at the size. The arms were far too long, going all the way down to his slender wrists. He solved that problem by rolling them up, stretching around his elbows.

The shirt dragged all the way down to his ankles, which Rivaille was grateful for, because that meant that he didn't have to put his pants back on again. Those stifling pieces of clothing..god, if Eren wasn't there, he would've stripped naked and went on that way. Why couldn't he do that? He mused. It wasn't like Eren hadn't seen it all already…..

He dismissed the thought quickly and bent to gather up his other items of loose clothing, brushing and shaking the sand that fell out of them in lumps. He debated weather or not he should put on the maneuver straps around his bare legs, but decided against it. _It would do too much damage instead of efficiency anyway. _He pulled his blade carriers up, deciding what to do with them. He couldn't really strap them to his shirt, but his bag was too small to fit such a thing. He groaned and got out his maneuver straps again, untying them from their position. Holding one blade container to his hip, he strapped the maneuver leather around it, doing the same to the other one, rolling it back and forth a couple times. Once he was satisfied with the result, he tested it by jumping up and down. What he didn't know was that Eren had snuck up behind him, staring.  
"So, are you going to flash every titan that we come to? I'm sure they'll fall right then for the ugliness" Eren dog-whistled appreciatively. Rivaille rolled his eyes. "More like they'll fall because of the sexyness..you know you want it." He waggled-_waggled _his hips slightly for added effect. Eren swallowed and gulped, shifting slightly.

Suddenly, Rivaille expression turned serious and he tugged down the other boy to plant a quick kiss on the lips. "If you die out there, I swear to god, Eren Jaeger, I will come to your grave, dig your heavy ass body up, and reconstruct you as Frankenstein. Eren shivered at the prospect of a "mad-scientist" Rivaille and quickly nodded.

Rivaille started heading forward then, wincing as the cold metal of the blades shivered by his bare thighs. Eren just followed, stretching one arm above the other in mock laziness.

~X~

It was approximately the afternoon, and even Eren was burning up. Rivaille had taken to hitching the shirt up, allowing for more air to travel through. And, to make matters worse-

"I'm fucking _thirsty_." This time it was Rivaille who'd complained, snapping his eyes at Eren.

Eren held up his hands in mock defense; he was thirsty too. 'What're you looking at me for?"

"What happened to the water I had?" Eren winced as he remembered.

_The sun was hurting Eren's eyes as he woke up from the bed; Rivaille's arms had come undone sometime in the night, and now he was sleeping peacefully on his back. Eren winced as the taste of morning breath hit him, foul and sour. _

_He rummaged in the bags, smiling in triumph as he found half-a bottle of clear water. Not seeing the white strip that said- RIVAILLE in bold letters, he chugged it down, sighing in relief as his thirst was resolved. It was only when he sat on the edge of the bed, flipping the bottle around, that he saw the label with the other's name on it. "…Fuck." _

_Eren'd quickly stuffed it in his bag, hoping that the latter would be none the wiser. Eren's bottle that he'd filled two days ago, became empty on the first day. He was used to normal living conditions, where all you had to do to get water was pump it from a well. _

Eren massaged his forehead as he remembered. He'd vaguely thought of pissing in it, even though the substance would be a faint yellow, but decided otherwise, because Rivaille would be even more ticked off. "Um..well..maybe squirrels stole it?" Rivaille narrowed his eyes, and in a split second, Eren found himself facing the sky, a thin foot perched on his chest. Rivaille yanked his bag out of his hands, sticking a hand in and feeling around it. Suddenly, he came to a hollow container to pull it out in self righteous. It was his bottle, all right, the sharp words standing out pointed and clear.

RIVAILLE'S WATER BOTTLE. DO NOT TOUCH.

Well, _someone _had ignored the rules. The water bottle was as empty as Rivaille's mouth right now. He threw it down with a groan of desperation and went over to a prickly plant. Eren tried to stop him. "Hey Rivaille, don't-"

Too late. Rivaille had roundhouse kicked it, causing it to split in half and topple over. However, some of the prickly "leaves" had come off, and were now embedded in Rivaille's foot. His face barely changed as he looked at them; they had started to ooze blood. Eren came forward worriedly, looking at his leg with concern. Rivaille promptly stuck his leg out to the boy, saying. "You. Fix it."

Eren gulped and gingerly clasped the foot his arms, examining the amount of damage. Thankfully, it wasn't a lot, and easy to fix. He clasped his index finger and thumb together, and gripped the first spike, pulling it out. It was stuck there, forcefully refusing to budge. He tried for a moment longer, too afraid to twist it. He sighed then and opened his mouth, gripping the spike with his teeth. It came out that time, dripping a little excess blood on Rivaille's leg. Eren spat out the spike, wincing as he looked at the rest of Rivaille's leg. "..Only ten more to go.."

As he was doing this, he noticed something. "Are your legs hairless?" This was a strange question to ask his partner, and especially when they were in a position as awkward as this, but Eren couldn't help noticing it. Rivaille rolled his eyes and grinded between his teeth. "Shut up."

Eren shut up, even though he couldn't help admiring the smoothness and softness of the limb. Finally he got to the last one, pulling it out with a yank. "Done!" He spat the leaf out.

Rivaille nodded and calmly walked over to the fallen cactus, a little blood dripping on the sand.

He knelt down and examined the fallen plant, circling around it to see if there was a hole anywhere. There wasn't. The whole cactus was covered in millions of tiny spikes. He hummed, debating how to do this. "Eren."

"Yeah?" Eren was massaging his stinging teeth.

"..Can you help me pluck all of these out too?" Eren looked at the plant. "No way in hell!"

In the end, they had both decided to just cut the cactus neatly in half, trying their best not to blunt their swords. The cactus was surprisingly tough, gnarly all the way through. The inside was a wicked green color, which Eren hesitantly poked. "..And what are you planning to do with this?"

Rivaille stepped carefully around the plant, sticking his sword in the middle of it and twisting. Little drops of liquid dew dribbled out, and Rivaille carefully caught it in his water bottle. They'd been doing this for three minutes, and the only evidence of their labor was barely a millimeter of water in the jar. Finally Eren snapped in frustration. "Screw this!"

He planted his feet firmly on the sand and started kicking it, little grits flying everywhere. Rivaille coughed and rubbed his eyes as some of it got in his face. "what the hell?"

Eren just continued, using his sword as extra leverage as the sand became clumped and heavier. It was turning a dark brown color now, which he took as a good sign. Sure enough, there was a little shallow pool of water that he dug. Eren quickly swooped down and scooped as much of the water as he could get in his water flask, hastily kicking sand over the spot. Even though the water was slightly muddy, he'd gotten more water in half a minute than Rivaille's four minute cactus drain. Rivaille blinked, impressed against his will. "..Fine. We'll do it your way."

After a while, they'd both gotten a good half bottle of water in their flasks. Rivaille had discovered the wonders of cactus flowers and fruit; shoving them mercilessly in his sack bag. After they'd discovered a little rodent in its hole-god knows what it was but it looked edible-they'd speared that as well, preparing it for a later meal.

Rivaille had stripped the poor animal of its fur, and Eren had built a fire, which they cooked it over. Soon the tender aroma of fresh meat filled the air, and both of their stomachs were rumbling.

That had also caused the arrival of coyotes and snakes, however. Rivaille had lazily killed them in spite of Eren's protests. After a brief squabble, they were tired, stomachs and mouths full, so they laid back on the soft desert sand and watched the stars. Eren started pointing out what he thought were the star signs. "And that-" He pointed to a pathway of arched stars. "I think that's the big ladle."

Rivaille squinted at it. "..Isn't that the big dipper?"

"No, big ladle! It looks just like one too!" Eren protested, peeved.

"No, dipshit, it's a _dipper_. See how it's dipping?"

"..Forget it. Anyway, I think that that's a…goat fish?"

"…C-C-" Rivaille tried to remember what it began with. "Cap-Cap-screw it. I don't know anymore."

He rolled over on his side, cursing as Eren got out the fucking cube again. "Let's give it a name." Eren proclaimed, twirling it around in his hands.

Rivaille suddenly yawned, looking at Eren. "How about the-oh holy fuck I can't 'match the colors up' because I'm an idiot?"

Eren scowled at him and playfully swatted his arm. "No..how about..the Rivaille cube?"

"Why?" Rivaille asked, propping his head up on an arm.

"Well..you were the one who discovered it." Eren shrugged.

Rivaille scratched his head. "Since we _techinally _discovered it together, how about the..um..Rivaere cube? Like a mix of Rivaille, and Eren."

"No, I think that Ereri sounds better."

"What the fuck is that name? It sounds like something a donkey would make. And why is your name before mine? I discovered it, after all. Shouldn't my name go first?"

"Fine!" Eren huffed. "We'll go with Rivaere."

"That's better." Rivaille slapped his ass teasingly, leaving a red Eren as he turned around. "Good night."

Eren huffed quietly, hiding a smile. "Good night."

* * *

Owowowowo. My hand has this huge bruise on it, it's almost like a ring.

And my arms are killing me. I typed this chapter just for you guys! Woke up at 4:45 am~

Yes. I'm trying to get a lot done before I go to Yellowstone..just realized that the first episode of the Free! Anime is coming out while I'm on vacation..QAQ I'll have to wait to watch it! No! OTL

(that's a person kneeling on the ground. See it? See it? Hun hun? XD)

But today my friend asked me-"What're those weird bruises on your hands and arms?"

Me-"THOSE ARE MY BATTLE SCARS FROM MY RIFLE, FLAG, AND SABAR."

*holds up items dramatically*

Yes. Colorguard is actually freaking badass. I thought-"Oh, I'll just have to look pretty (ewww not possible) and spin a flag and smile! No. WE GET FREAKING GUNS AND SWORDS. I'm like a pirate and someone out of a James Bond movie at the same time! Wahhya!

So if I ever see a rapist in an alleyway, if I'm holding my colorguard equipment…I'll..

Smack him with my pilot gloves.

Knee him in the crotch with my metal flag pole (ouch)

Try to give him a concussion with swinging my rifle around his head.

Hit him with my saber over and over just because I feel like it.

Yes. Okay, to recruit colorguard members…COLORGUARD IS AMAZING. Give it a try! :D For me, at least? *puppy dog eyes*

Anyway, thanks to Loveless for volunteering to be my smut beta! (EVERYONE GIVE HER A VIRTUAL HUG) Whew..maybe the smut will be sexier now. XD

And the winner is…*dumroll*

IsyPerolla! Gosh, thank you so much for all the long reviews and comments..they make me so happy. Thank you for following me on Tumblr too! I love you! So, I'll PM you, or you can PM me, and request your 4,000 word one shot, or a 4,000 word long chapter to add on to this fanfic, theme your choice. :D It has to be snk though..I don't think I've read all the anime mangas that you have. XD

If I reach 200, I'll do two oneshots for two reviewers! Remember, the number of times you review, the number of times you'll be entered in the "raffle!" May the odds ever be in your favor….*dun dun dun!*

Sorry this chapter was so slow..I mean, all you got from it was that they're traveling across a desert and now Rivaille's going to flash every titan he kills..(MOONMOON) Yeah. Two thousand something words just for that.

Haha..Rivaere cube. Ship names FTW! :D I swear, there are so many ship names for these two I don't know which ones to pick…. .

(OJO)

Sorry about the long author's note.

Until next time! Ja Ne~!

K.K

Reviews will make me do the karaoke around my room like a penguin high on caffeine, and will make Eren grab Rivaille and try to do him in the desert..(ouch. Sand. Poor Rivaille.)


	10. Chapter 10

Mikasa and Armin were huddling under the canopy, watching the sky as it started raining, little drops pelting down on the grass. Mikasa had wrapped herself in a bundle, usual scarf slung around her neck. Her hair was swinging over her face; it was growing to be too long. Armin was leaning on her, comfortingly patting her back with his hand. It'd been three days when they'd found Eren and Rivaille missing.

"_Eren!" Armin swung down from the top bunk. "Eren! I have a plan-" He stopped short as he saw the empty bed, blankets pristine as if it'd never been slept on. "Eren?" _

_Mikasa had waken due to the noise, and was rubbing her eyes. "What is it, Armin?" _

"_Eren's gone!" _

_Mikasa stopped stretching and froze. "Eren?" She leapt down from her bed and ran over to where Armin was. True to the fact, there was no one in the bed. _

_Just as they were gathering their thoughts together, Zoe burst in. "The corporal is missing!" _

_Armin blinked. "But..Eren is missing too." _

_Mikasa gripped the fabric of her nightgown harder. "Did they leave us? Did Eren leave us?" _

_She started towards the closet, stripping her nightgown as she went. Armin was flabbergasted. "What are you doing, Mikasa?!" _

_She pulled on her pants and boots, strapped her swords on, and headed towards the entrance. "Finding Eren, of course." She shrugged like this was an everyday thing. Quickly, Zoe ran to where she was, blocking the door. "Mikasa, I'm sure that Eren and Rivaille are just out to find something in the forest or who knows what..Rivaille has his quirks, and I'm sure he just asked Eren to do something for him.." _

_Mikasa, who was tensing through most of this speech, relaxed visibly. "Maybe Eren just went to help him with something…right?" Her words sounded monotonic, true Mikasa style. But only Armin could tell that her voice was actually trembling, and for the first time, Mikasa was actually trying to reassure herself. The last time she'd lost Eren, she'd almost gone suicidal and gotten herself killed. _

_They all waited in their bedroom, Zoe bringing them food at regular intervals. Armin was reading his world book again, fingers shaking slightly as he worried about his friend. Mikasa was a stiff statue, leaning against a corner. Zoe was not her usual self, quiet and dull. _

"_It's been three hours." Mikasa murmured, drawing her sword out to inspect the blade. _

_Zoe shrugged from her place on the floor. "I'm sure Rivaille's doing something crazy..hahah…" _

_Armin just gripped his book harder and pressed it to his face so that the others couldn't see the start of his tears._

Armin paused there for a moment, head on the comforting warmth of Mikasa's shoulder. He thought, and I kept telling myself, over and over again, not to cry. I felt like if I cried, even the tiniest hope, would crumble to pieces. And even though I knew from the beginning that there was no "hope",

I could not come to grips with it.

I was filled with resentment, and remorse. Resentment that Eren would actually leave _us_, his friends, and remorse, I guess, because he's actually gone, maybe for good this time. Armin huddled into himself as the rain fell harder. _I cried the whole time. _

The once noisy and crowded dining hall was a quiet place now, the only sounds besides them eating the drips of water from the cracked ceiling. Zoe had tried her best to make lunch, which was a peanut butter sandwich. But she didn't have to try to hard, thought Armin as he took a bit of his sandwich. Because we won't taste it anyway.

Finally, halfway through their mock lunch, Mikasa snapped. She banged her hands on the table and stood up, eyes flashing. "I'm going after him."

Zoe stood up too, bracing herself. "I won't let you go." Mikasa glared at her, drawing her sword. Armin put a hand on her wrist, stopping the movement. "Mikasa! What are you doing?!"

Mikasa glared at Zoe. "Why won't you let me?"

Zoe sighed and relaxed her posture a little. "We need you, Mikasa. We already lost countless others, and now…Rivaille, and Eren." Her throat moved as she gulped. "That's why..without you, then it'll just be Armin and me. And that doesn't even classify as a 'legion'" her hands sketched quotation marks in the air.

Mikasa thought for a moment, then sat back down. "Eren's the only reason that I'm even here."

Zoe sighed and sank back onto the bench. "If..they did…run away..together, I'm sure that Rivaille's more than capable of taking care of him."

Armin gulped nervously as he saw Mikasa's expression. She was planning something.

~X~

It was close to midnight, and Armin couldn't sleep. The chirps of cicadas seemed to be louder than ever, and the moon was so bright, it seemed like the sun to him. He buried his face in his pillow, groaning quietly. What the hell was Eren thinking? "He promised he would never leave us.."

Armin flipped over again, staring at the ceiling, which was riddled with countless cracks. Amusing himself by looking for animals and shapes in the fixtures, he didn't notice the quiet shadow creeping towards him. "Armin!"

"AAAAHHHHHmmmpphhh!" Mikasa covered his hand with her mouth, putting a finger to her lips. "Shhhh, come with me. Get dressed." She motioned to her scouting outfit. Armin looked suspicious. "Mikasa! You can't possibly be planning-"

She pushed a hand over his mouth again. "You know I can't leave Eren out there all alone in the wild by himself."

"..he's not alone. He's with-"

She shook her head and tossed his pants at him, which landed on his face. "Get dressed." She hissed. Armin hurriedly complied, yanking on his pants and strapping on his maneuver gear. She quietly pushed open the door, which opened with a gentle _creak_. They went out onto the grass, not knowing that this, in fact, was the exact place where Eren stood, four days ago while waiting for Rivaille. "Are you sure about this? We'll be leaving Zoe alone!" Armin whimpered.

Mikasa nodded and bit her lip slightly. "I'm sure. Zoe will be fine. Commander Irvin's still out there somewhere."

Armin shook his head and looked back. "But-"

"Armin." Mikasa went to him and looked him head on. "This is for _Eren._ Think of how much he's done for us. Are we just going to let him get kidnapped?"

"I don't think he was kidnapped.."

"Why else would Eren leave, then?" There was a hint of desperation in Mikasa's eyes, frantically trying to reassure herself against the ugly truth.  
"Ah..they could've been..um.." Armin didn't finish the thought, and Mikasa didn't inquire.

"Let's go."

"But we need a map, food, supplies-"

"I already got all of that."

"..oh. Okay." Armin hoisted his pack up a little higher and followed Mikasa, who seemed to be relying on her senses alone, heading towards the forest. "..Are you sure this is where they've gone?"

Mikasa shrugged, pointing to sloped footsteps. "You tell me."

Armin shook his head and smiled. True Mikasa fashion. Even though the rain had washed away most of the footsteps, Mikasa could still see everything.

"You're amazing."

Mikasa stopped and looked back at him, expression same as always. "Thank you."

Armin nodded and followed her up the forest hill. "I wonder what he's doing now.." he mumbled to himself.

_Eren..we're coming._

~X~

"Ugh.." Eren looked up as Rivaille came, the substance filling his mouth. He was surprised at how much there was, so he swallowed accidently, wincing at the taste. It was salty and a little bitter, not tasteless like he'd originally thought. Rivaille placed a hand on his chin and drew Eren closer, kissing him deeply. Eren returned the kiss, hands snaking around Rivaille's thin waist.

"What time is it?" Rivaille quietly asked Eren. Eren shrugged, licking and biting Rivaille's neck, leaving a dark bruise there. "It's sometime around midnight."

Rivaille pushed Eren off and stood up, wincing as he saw how much dirtier he'd become.

"Sand." He simply said, looking at the grits in distaste.

"How long until we're out of this desert?" Eren asked him, stretching and wiping his mouth.

"Soon, I suppose. It's not that big, so if we start traveling now, we should be out soon."

"I haven't seen any titans. You?"

"I doubt that I would see one if you didn't. They don't exactly hide, do they?"

Rivaille snickered, pulling on his boots and normal clothes while tossing Eren's nightshirt off. "We'd better get going."

"Why so late?"

Rivaille re-strapped on his swords, wincing as his fingers got caught in one of the straps. "It's just this weird feeling..but I feel like someone's following us." Eren blinked. "…"

Rivaille whipped back at him and glared. "You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

"N-no way!" Eren gulped, remembering the time he was terrified of the corporal. He would shake every time he was around him in fear that he would cut him down or castrate him after he found him masturbrating in his room.

Rivaille sighed and shook his head. "Whatever the case, we're going."

Eren nodded, pulling his pack back on and following the other man.

As they walked along, Eren started talking. "Isn't it amazing, how you can discover new lands and things that people have forgotten about before and actually see them for yourself?"

Rivaille looked dryly at him. "Please tell me you're not going to get an erection just by talking about landforms."

Eren flushed a dark red and shook his head frantically. "What gave you that idea?"

Rivaille shrugged. "Something about your enthusiasm?"

Eren spluttered. "No. But-" He continued with his charade. "I could name this the Eren Desert and it would be okay!"

Rivaille scoffed. "No one would ever go to this desert if it was called the Eren desert. Trust me on this one."

Eren let out a grunt and turned away from him. "I could always name that cactus Maria and it would be mine!"

"..You have a twisted mind, you know that?"

Rivaille playfully punched Eren's shoulder. Eren rolled his eyes and leaned back into him, slinging an arm around his neck.

"You know you love me."

Eren felt Rivaille freeze. "What?"

Eren frowned and repeated the words. "You know you love me."

Instantly, Rivaille slapped his hand away, "You're sick."

Eren raised his hands in defense. "It was a joke! A joke! An expression!"

Rivaille looked at him in suspicion, then shrugged it off; it was nothing. "Keep moving."

Eren followed him, grumbling something about how he took everything way too sersiouly.

But the reason Rivaille actually was surprised, was that when Eren said it, he actually didn't know weather it was true or not. Days ago, he would've instantly said, "no."

Now..he just wasn't sure anymore.

Back when mom died..he thought. Sometimes, I would wake up crying. I didn't know anymore weather I was sad or not-the memory was too dim to remember. Because I wished that dreams were reality, and this reality was a dream, maybe that was the reason. But it wasn't because I was sad, I think. When you return from a happy dream to a desperate reality,

there's a chasm that you have to step across, one that you can't cross without shedding tears.

Rivaille sighed, sinking the soles of his feet into the sand. _Living..is such a scary thing to do. _

"Do you believe in the afterlife?" He asked Eren, musing about what the boy would say. Eren paused for a moment, then continued walking. "I've..never actually thought about it."

"but if you did, what would you think?" Rivaille pressured.

"Well…I don't believe in it." Eren affirmed. "It seems to be something created by humans out of wishful thinking."

Rivaille nodded, thinking about his answer. "But if a lot of the people you loved died, would you _wish _there was an afterlife?"

Eren thought for a moment. "Yeah, I do. What about you?"

Rivaille breathed out. "Same." Even though the action was minute, he could feel Eren's hand brushing against his gently, the presence reassuring and _there_.

* * *

Whew..this was actually a slow update-ish….D: I'm going to try to update sooner! Whoo! Can't wait to go to YellowStone too! Thank you seraphineheartfilia for giving me the awesome idea of including Mikasa and Armin! I actually would love to hear more plot suggestions and other things from all of you! What would you like to see more of in this story? *holds out mike*

Anyway…because all you people are so awesome, I'm going to give you an omake! (I know you want it.) XD

**Omake-**"Armin." Mikasa went to him and looked him head on. "This is for _Eren._ Think of how much he's done for us. Are we just going to let him get kidnapped?"

"I don't think he was kidnapped.."

"Why else would Eren leave, then?" There was a hint of desperation in Mikasa's eyes, frantically trying to reassure herself against the ugly truth.  
"Ah..they could've been..um.." Mikasa pressed on. "What?"

Armin exploded, waving his arms around. "They could've been horny for each other and had wild animal sex!"

Mikasa stopped. "…Is that even possible?'

Armin, who was flaming red in the face, nodded "Yeah..don't you know how gay sex works?"

"…What is sex?"

Armin gaped at the girl. "Have you.."

"never had an interest in whatever people talk about in their spare time."

"Okay..well..sex is..erm…"

I regret nothing.

So, yeah.

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

If you have any suggestions or things you want to see in the story, please tell me! Or any omake requests? Those are fun to do.

Reviews will make Eren and Rivaille horny (well, they already kinda are) horn_ier _for each other. YES REVIEWS CAUSE SMUT. HHAHAAH (so sorry Rivaille)


	11. Chapter 11

Mikasa and Armin were stuck. They were halfway across the forest, resting in a small clearing when Eren and Rivaille's footsteps had suddenly disappeared, gone from sight. There were crumbles of burning embers, suggesting that they'd made camp here-resting for the night. However, there were a bit of scuffling footprints, like they'd engaged in combat or something of the other.

"If they'd run into a titan, why does it look so messy? Rivaille should've killed it-clean and quick, right?" Armin whispered to himself.

Mikasa looked at him; she had overheard. "You never know what conditions they could've been in. Someone could've been injured. I don't care what happens, but if Eren is injured…"her grip on her sword tightened. "Prepare yourself, Corporal."

Armin shivered at the prospect and awkwardly looked away. "But those trees..why are they so..'bashed'? It couldn't have been just one titan, right? This looks like the work of two or more..what if Eren and the Corporal died here?" He bit his thumb in frustration.

Mikasa pointed to the ground. "If they did, and the titans ate them, we would see blood and at least _some _weapons on the ground."

Armin nodded frantically, trying to reason himself with her logic. "If they did escape the titan, then they would've probably gone on and headed out of the forest, right?"

Mikasa nodded, brushing her hair out of her face. "they should be going to the plains beyond this…"

He nodded, and setting up their packs again, they continued onward.

Trampling past trees and plants, Armin suddenly stiffened. "D-Did you hear that?"

Mikasa turned to look at him enduringly. "What?"

Armin gulped. "There was this…slithering sound.."

She shrugged, but raised her sword all the same. "Probably just a snake-"

A gigantic hand burst out from the trees where Armin was. He let out a yell and drew his sword, gulping at the prospect of fighting a titan. Mikasa crouched down, preparing her 3D maneuver gear. It was a good thing they'd brought extra gas too, just in case.

A leering face poked out above the trees, snapping them like twigs.

"..What.." Armin gasped.

Two of the titan's arms raised, and with a gigantic roar, slammed down by them.

"Is going.." The fingers; nails chipped and yellow, dug into the dirt, seeking purchase in the loose grit.

"On?" Mikasa was facing the same thing, dodging and spinning around to evade the titan.

Two arms for Armin.

Two arms for Mikasa.

_It was a four armed titan. _

"What the hell is this?!"

~X~

"Achoo!" Eren sniffled, brushing his nose. Rivaille turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "You're not getting sick on me, are you?"

Eren shook his head, then immediately sneezed again. "Aaaa-choo!"

He shook his head. "Allergies or something, I guess.."

Rivaille looked at him imperiously, shrugging and going onward. They'd almost made it out of the desert-there was a strip of green not too far away from where they were.

They'd gone through a forest, Rivaille ticked off, a mountain, a field of some sort, and now, a "desert".

"What else could be next?" He shook his head and sighed.

Eren looked at him, still sniffling. "There could be a volcano!"

"What the fuck is a volcano?"

Eren put a finger to his chin, looking upward. "I think that it's a mountain of fire…yeah."

"There's no way in this screwed up world that there could be a mountain of _fire_. Keep dreaming, squirt." Eren was about to retort, but sneezed again. "Achoo!"

Rivaille was now keeping a secure distance away from him, raising his arms protectively. "….Are you sure you're okay?"

"..Yeah.."

Rivaille looked at him for a moment longer, then sighed. "Let's stop."

They had reached the edge of the desert now, only a little barrier separating them from the oasis.

Eren collapsed with a _huff_, breath whoosing out of him in a deep exhale. "I feel sick.."

Rivaille, who was arranging his bag, shot him a surprised look. "You never get sick."

Eren groaned and turned over. "I don't feel so hot.."

"You were never hot in the first place.." Rivaille tried to pass it off as a mocking statement, but his hand strayed towards the other's forehead, feeling the temperature. "God, you're burning up.."

Eren closed his eyes, curling into a ball. "I'm so cold.." He coughed again, if that would express his point better.

Rivaille hesitantly removed his hand, searching in his bag for Eren's extra shirt. Wincing at the smell, he cut a strip off the bottom, and soaked it with a few drops of water, placing it on Eren's head.

The boy winced as the cool cloth made contact with his feverishly warm skin, twisting around for a bit until he found a comfortable position.

For the first time in his life, Rivaille felt helpless. _What was he to do? Eren'd never gotten sick before. Hanji said something about that too…a titan's abnormally high immune system or whatnot. Do titans even have immune systems? _He looked back at Eren, who was sprawled along the ground, fidgeting in his restless sleep. "Oy. Brat."

When there was no response, he pulled a hand through his dirty hair, that fact reminding him that he _needed _to get to a fucking stream and _shower. _

But now that Eren was like this..well, that set his plans back. Besides, if anyone was searching for them…his eyes swept the desert warily. They had a better chance of catching up. The only thing he could do now was take care of Eren and hope that he didn't fall into a coma or something.

He looked at the other, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

Abnormal titans had appeared.

Eren was sick.

What the hell was going on?

~X~  
Mikasa bit her lip as the titan's arms lunged towards them. She waited until a split second later, when she jumped and landed on the arm, running up the muscle to get to the neck. There were other hands that tried to catch her on the way up, but she dodged them effortlessly, concentrating on her one target; the spinal cord.

Armin was doing his best to distract the titan from Mikasa, waving his arms wildly and nicking the titan at random intervals.

When Mikasa reached the neck, she knew there was something wrong. There was a bluish-black budge at the neck, twisting and wrapping around that weak point.

_If titans evolve ever further and all of them gain intelligence…they could very well protect their spinal cord with hands-and furthermore, with this extra protection-_

_Humankind wouldn't stand a chance anymore. _

She somehow knew that merely stabbing or cutting the neck like she usually would wouldn't do anything, but truly, there was no other way.

The titan roared in anger; Armin had managed to slice of a finger, which was regenerating back as soon as he'd cut if off.

_What's more, their healing rates have gone up even quicker…_She mused as she analyzed the situation. "Armin! Is there any way besides the spinal cord?"

Armin thought for a moment, suspended in the air. "No, so far, that's their only weak point. What? Is there something wrong?" He hastily dodged a leg that was coming up to kick him.

"Something's protecting its weak spot. I can't poke through it!"

Armin thought quickly-Mikasa could practically see the gears turning through his head. "Do you have a bomb?" He finally called.

Mikasa screwed her eyes shut and tried to remember if she'd packed the explosives or not. Thankfully, she'd grabbed them as a last resort-she was immensely thankful for that now. Pulling the tiny black devices out, she quickly stuck one on the weak spot, and another at the base of its skull. Setting the bombs to activate, she quickly jumped off the neck, swinging her maneuver gear to grip a tree branch, lunging herself forward to grip on it. "Armin! Quickly!"

He followed her, likewise swinging onto a branch next to her. "three..two..one.." he breathed, eyes wide with anticipation. There was a tremendous _boom_, and the head of the titan was blown off, blood trickling off the severed neck. From what Mikasa could see, two bombs were barely enough-the spinal cored was only half severed. She leapt on to neck, hacking the rest to pieces. When she was satisfied, she turned to Armin, waiting for conformation.

Armin was staring at the titan in disbelief. "..How.."

"It must've been an abnormality." Mikasa affirmed, wiping her sword on the grass; she wanted to make sure it was free of blood.

Armin trembled slightly. "But..there's never been an abnormality with different..body structures…it's mostly the 'personalities', per say, and the intelligence level.." He slumped back into the tree. "What's going on? And here I thought everything was almost over.."

Mikasa crouched by him and patted his back reassuringly. "It's okay, we'll get Eren back, and we'll stick together."

Armin nodded, eyes closing. "What if we don't find him?"

"We will." Mikasa nodded to herself. "I swear it."

~X~

Eren was getting worse as the day passed on. Rivaille had tried feeding him a tiny crumb of bread, but Eren had just groaned and pushed it weakly away, saying that he felt like he was going to barf if he ate it. All he'd been able to hold down was a few sips of water, and even that he could barely hold in.

What Eren had passed off as merely, "allergies", had turned out to be a full blown sickness. He complained that his body ached, his head burned, and the world was spinning around him.

What's more, he'd kept on trying to touch Rivaille in certain..places.

Rivaille slapped his wandering hand away. "Eren!"

"But.." Eren whined, reaching another hand to his face.

"Keep away! You'll get me sick too!"

"Not even a kiss?" Eren pleaded, putting on his best puppy eyes.

"No." Rivaille, however, was immune. "Why are you so horny when you're sick?! Aren't sick people supposed to be too tired for sex?"

"No," Eren _giggled_. Rivaille didn't know how to react to that. "I just see you there..and-"

Rivaille shoved a hand in his face. "Forget it. I don't want to hear any more."

"Rivaille.."

"No."

"_Rivaille.." _

"No."

"Rivailleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Eren stretched his name out like a taffy puller, annoying the other man to death.

"What?!" He snapped, spinning around to face him. "You're making us lose distance as it is!"

Eren paused in surprise for a moment, then continued smiling again. "I'm thirsty…"

Rivaille sighed and pulled out his bottle, shaking it. "We don't have much left.."

"Here." He handed the bottle to Eren, who had outstretched his hands eagerly.

Eren grabbed the bottle and eagerly drank from it, gulping down the water like there was no tomorrow. He sighed in content and gave the bottle back to Rivaille, who noted that there was barely a millimeter of water left.

"Are you getting better?" He asked Eren, albeit a bit waspishly.

"Hmmm?" Eren rolled over, facing him. "It feels like my insides are sloshing around.." He giggled again, that creepy sound sending shivers up Rivaille's spine.

"Oh, god." Rivaille pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "someone save me, please.."

"Ugh.." Eren rolled over again, coughing. Rivaille sighed, he knew what was coming next. Eren tried to vomit again, but this time, just spit up clear liquid; he didn't have anything solid in his stomach. "Corporallllll…"

Rivaille put his head in his hands. "Where's the goddamn doctor when you need it?!"

"I'm tired.." Eren sighed, clutching Rivaille's pant leg. "Stay with me.."

He fell asleep quickly, humming to himself. Rivaille just started at the immobile boy for a moment, shaking his head in disbelief. "So now you fall asleep on me.."

Suddenly, he heard a quiet _clack_, and looked at Eren's bag to see the Rivere cube fall out. He stretched out a hand, careful not to disturb Eren's sleeping head, which somehow ended up on his lap.

He brought the cube up to inspection, scowling at the multi-colored specks. "I still don't get why he's so obsessed with this.." He nevertheless started twisting and turning it, trying to get all the right colors lined up the correct way.

Soon, he was lapsing into the fascinating puzzle, losing himself in the cube. "Ah, shit…if I switch that..then this side won't be lined up anymore.."

Eren was still contently snoring on his lap, hair tickling Rivaille's legs. Rivaille drew an absentminded hand over to his head, gently fingering the soft strands.

Eren shifted slightly. "Heichou..." He murmered.

Rivaille quickly stopped his fingers in surprise, looking at Eren, who was somehow, still asleep.

"You're impossible." He rolled his eyes. "What am I going to do with you?"

* * *

Ack. So. Eren's sick. QAQ Noooooooomypoorbabyyyyy

But this chapter is kinda important to the plot, I guess, because you'll find out the mystery of the abnormal titans soon..and why Eren, who never gets sick..suddenly falls ill..*dun dun dun!*

Sorry for the late update, guysssss

I had to finish writing the one-shot that IsyPellora requested….

It's called-

Just Another Day…around 5000 words, actually…^^" I got carried away writing it..yeah.

But I like it! :D Thanks to Loveless for helping me with the smut! (you're the best beta ever! Yeah!) So..that was my smut contribution..I didn't have the effort to write lemon in this one..so..yeah. Some more's coming up, though! :D whooohoooo but if you want your daily dose of smut..yeah.

I would love if you guys read the oneshot and told me what you think of it! (yayyayayayay)

Whoo…and to think that I'll have to write two of those when we reach 200…. (:O) Oh well, its worth it. ;) Just to read all your lovely reviews~~ They make me happy!

Um..out of Omake ideas…send them in! :D I would love requests!

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews will make Eren heal faster, and will make Mikasa and Armin slow their search for them….(no cockblocksssss)


	12. Chapter 12

Rivaille would have torn his hair out in frustration if he weren't so worried about protecting his looks.

Two nights had passed and gone, and still Eren showed no sign of getting better.

They were on a complete stop on their journey; Rivaille had at least dragged Eren into a dense forest to get shade and water.

Thankfully, he'd found a stream in the forest, and took time tending to himself there, lathering his hair and body with the small block of soap that he'd brought.

"_Only you would bring that.." _Eren had sighed drowsily, looking at Rivaille with half-closed eyes as the other tried to wash him. Rivaille had thought that the water would cool down some of Eren's fever, but to his dismay, did nothing but make the boy shiver and cough harder.

He gritted his teeth in frustration as he felt Eren's forehead again; the temperature was the exact same as the last time he'd felt it, if not hotter.

Stepping over rocks and vines to walk to the stream, he felt hopeless and a bit sick himself. They were losing distance, at any time, the abnormal titans could come-and Eren wouldn't be able to fight this time. Rivaille would have to protect them both, but if they were the abnormal ones…hell, he'd barely been able to take down _one _with Eren.

He almost shivered at the prospect of facing two or three at the same time on his own.

When he got back to Eren, the other boy was asleep, fitfully fidgeting and moving around in the tangle of vines he was in. As if to mock Rivaille further, there was a faint growl that whistled through the air, coming from god knows where.

_Well.._he thought, _We'll be fucking screwed if Eren keeps on going like this..but, what the hell did I expect?! That this trip would be a little pink frilly cupcake?! With a cherry on top.._he bitterly added.

"Well, no choice now." He cracked his knuckles leisurely, wincing as he felt a bone pop. Hoisting both of their packs on his shoulder, he gently coaxed Eren out of his sleep, tugging on the other boy.

"Eren."

"Hmmm.." Eren sighed, pulling Rivaille's arm closer. "Mum…"

Rivaille scowled and rolled his eyes-was he honestly getting mistaken for the boy's _mother_?!

"Wake up, shithead!" He tugged on the boy a little harder.

"Just a few more minutes.." Eren muttered into Rivaille's sleeve.

"We don't _have _a few more minutes! Get up now!"

Eren curled himself into a ball. "But I don't wanna..' he whined. "It's all nice and warm here.."

Rivaille exhaled, blowing a piece of hair off his face as he started at Eren. "..You asked for it."

He delivered a hard kick to the boy's side. Eren yelped painfully, rolling away from him. He was about to deliver an insult, when he suddenly started hacking.

"What.." another coughing fit-"The fuck-" more coughing-"Was that?!"

Rivaille looked at him imperiously. "The only way you'll ever get better is if you actually move your lazy ass and get the blood flowing in your legs again."

Eren sighed, turning over. "But I'm tired…" He threw a limp arm over his eyes as if that would prove his point. "Make the sun go away.." he murmured. "It's too bright.."

Rivaille snorted. "I can't make the sun go away."

"But of course you can.." Eren's eyes were slipping down again. "You're..Rivaille.."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"

But Eren had already drifted back to sleep again, arms curling protectively around Rivaille's legs.

"..So even when you're asleep, you still have enough energy to hump legs, eh?"

Rivaille chuckled bitterly at his own comment, putting his head in his hands. "Ah..what the hell am I doing with my life?"

~X~

"Watch out! That's a-" Mikasa turned, just in time to dodge a flying boulder. Armin winced at the close call. "Are you sure that this is the way that they went?"

"There is no other way, though." The girl called back. "This is a whole mountain range. So unless they went back-there's no other way that they could've gone."

Armin wasn't entirely sure anymore, to be honest to himself. Did Eren really go through this? He was the only one who knew about Eren's strange height phobia.

Mikasa grimly trudged on, bottom half of her face hidden by the red scarf that she always wore. Armin sighed and gripped the next ledge with trembling finger; the air was growing thinner the further they went up, ridding his muscles of oxygen.

Mikasa was fine, having a small oxygen supply held by the scarf, but Armin, without anything to cover his mouth, was getting more hopeless by the minute. Finally, Mikasa looked back at him, seeing his distress. "Armin, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just the air..nothing big to worry about.." he lied; he didn't want to inconvenience her for anything. _Wasn't she so much more important to humanity than he was? _

Mikasa looked at her scarf thoughtfully, tugging the red strands. He noticed her fiddling. "Mikasa, you don't have to-"

She continued looking at the scarf. _Eren gave me this scarf.._she mused. _It's practically the only thing I have left of him now.._She looked back at Armin. _But I can't lose Armin as well-_

_Especially if it's a selfish thing that I could've avoided. _

She sighed and took off the scarf, holding it on her hip as she slid her sword out. "Mikasa, don't!"

She severed the scarf in half deftly before she could change her mind, throwing the other half to Armin, watching as the ripped scarlet fabric waved in the wind as Armin caught it. He quickly wrapped it around his face; Mikasa did the same.

"I can see snow ahead!" Armin called, pointing to the shimmers of powder that were ahead. Mikasa looked forward too, smiling at his enthusiasm. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Armin nodded eagerly, stretching out his hands to catch the sparse flecks that were drifting in the air.

Mikasa opened her mouth and tilted her head back, stretching out her tongue for a brief moment. A single drop of snow fell on it, instantly melting away the second it touched her mouth.

There was a quick moment of water, which she instantly swallowed; the drop was so tiny, she couldn't even feel it going down her throat.

Armin was watching her quietly. As she turned to him, he smiled and pointed upwards, hand clutching his half of the scarf. "Shouldn't we be going?"

She nodded for a moment, anticipating the trek upwards.

~X~

"_Mum! What're you doing?" Eren stretched his arms on the counter, struggling to rest his chin on the cold wood. His mom quickly turned around; she hadn't noticed him there. She quickly wiped her eyes. "Mum, are you crying?" He looked up at her with a concerned expression. _

"_Don't cry, mum. It makes me sad when you cry, too!" _

"_Oh, Eren.." she put her hand to her mouth for a brief moment, then lowered it again, smiling weakly. "I'm just chopping onions…you know what happens when I do that.." _

_Eren looked at the chopping board. "But mum, you aren't chopping onions.." he pointed out. "You're dicing lettuce for our salad, remember?" _

_For a moment, his mom stood stiff, barely a tremble in her stance. Then, the woman had started crying harder, dropping the knife and reaching out to hold him. "Eren.." She murmured into his hair. "Remember, whatever happens, mum and dad will always love you, okay?" _

_Eren accepted the hug without question, wrapping his arms around his mother's neck. "I know! Because.." He pulled back a bit and kissed her cheek. "Mum and dad have always been there for me!" _

_~X~_

"_I want to join the Recon corps!" Eren stubbornly held his ground, scowling at his mother. _

"_You can't! It's too dangerous !" His mom protested, wrapping up the dishtowel she held in her hands over and over again. _

"_I just want to see the world! How is that a bad thing?!" _

"_You'll get killed out there!" His mom screamed back, a desperate look in her eyes. _

"_That's it!" Eren shoved himself off the chair and ran out the door; he was going to see Armin. _

"_Eren!" Clara Jaegar reached out a hand to the figure that was already gone. _

"_I'll go after him." Mikasa said, standing up and moving to the door. _

"_Thank you, Mikasa.." _

_~X~_

"_Mom!" Eren frantically tried to pull apart the wooden shingles from their collapsed house, hands bleeding and raw from the effort. Mikasa tried to help too, but with limited success._

"_Go!" His mom looked at him with pleading eyes. "Go! You have to live, Eren! You and Mikasa!" _

_Eren started crying, releasing the wood that he had in his hands. "But-I can't leave you!" _

"_My legs are crushed, anyway! Even if you get me out, I'll never go far!" _

"_I'll carry you!" Eren screamed in desperation. "I'll carry you to the boats, then-" _

"_Stop it! Just __**go!**__" The woman was almost hysterical._

_She wouldn't have the strength to be alone longer..._

"_Don't go.." She whimpered and pulled a hand over her mouth, trembling. "Don't leave me here.." _

_I love you. I love you. _

_**I loved you. **_

_And the thumps of the titan's footfalls grew even heavier. _

_~X~_

Eren woke up screaming, arms and legs failing around. He hit something warm and soft. "God fucker, what is it now?!" He looked up through bleary eyes to see Rivaille, scowling at him.

Eren leapt onto the man, gripping his arms and shoulders hard. "Ahh…."

He was crying, tears streaming down his face. "Ungh….."

Rivaille didn't know what to do in a situation like this, so he settled for patting Eren on the back.

That little gesture was so-_Rivaille _like that it made Eren smile, clutching the material of Rivaille's jacket harder. "What happened?" and Rivaille's voice was so quiet and gentle, it was like it was coming from another person.

"I had a scary nightmare.." Eren admitted, burrowing his face into his corporal's shoulder.

"What was it about?" A hand came up to tangle in Eren's hair.

"Titans." A scoff came from beneath him.

"You're crying for that? We see real fucking titans every day. How scarier could dream titans get?! Wait, never mind." Rivaille held a hand up. "I don't want to know."

Eren sobbed-laughed, leaning his head into Rivaille's shoulder. But even that action was enough to make him start coughing again.

"Armin once told me that tears taste like the ocean." Eren murmured, loosening his grip a bit, expecting Rivaille to push him away. He didn't, surprisingly, just holding Eren there for a while longer. "..Don't cry anymore." The corporal finally said. "You don't have to cry to taste the ocean-we'll see it together someday, _soon._"

Eren sighed, tears still trickling down his eyelids. He reached up a hand to rub them, but Rivaille intercepted it, bringing it to his lips. "Don't rub your eyes." He murmured comfortingly, kissing the tip of his index finger. "It'll make them all swollen. Stop crying."

Eren nodded, ducking his head. Rivaille's fingers came up hesitantly to brush his hair. "It's okay.."

As Eren was held in Rivaille's arms, a verse came into his mind-

_The sunset I saw then was stunning, that's for certain, _

_But to call it love is just a disgrace, isn't it? _

_Even after all this time, you suddenly came to mind._

_And after the blood spilled, and the world turned into ash. _

Suddenly, Rivaille sniffed Eren's hair and grimaced. "You really need to shower."

"..You just ruined the moment."

"There was a moment?" Rivaille sneezed. "If I'm getting your cold, brat-"

"But I'm still sick, remember?"

"Sick, my ass!"

* * *

ahhhhhhhh QAQ I'm actually kinda proud of this chapter..if I admit it…

So..yeah. That was my first experiment with a kinda-angst moment..hopefully I didn't ruin anyone's impression of the anime or manga with this….

Sorry for the short chapter! I promise the next one will be longer!

Um…there's this amazing manga/cosplay shop in San Antiono? I THINK THEY'RE SELLING EREN AND RIVAILLE PLUSHIES! AND I THINK I SAW A CLOSSAL TITAN COSTUME!

Ahhhhh

This is beautiful. TT^TT I love my life. XD

So, iaminvisible requested a devil!Eren omake..so here it is! I love Omake requests…hinthinthint *grin*

**Omake- devil!Eren Set during American revolution **

Rivaille stiffened as a dark shadow came over the balcony-the mansion was dark and grim, the air heavy with what seemed like the scent of musk.

A swooshing sound was heard, and he brought his rifle up to alert-he was supposed to be protecting the royal family as their head guard.

Cackling laughter filled his ears-the sound wavering back and forth as if strummed out of a badly tuned speaker.

"Show yourself!" Rivaille snapped, whirling around. Every muscle in his body was tensed, on edge.

Soft footsteps could be heard, and slowly-as if by an unnatural force, the glass sliding door closed, effectively shutting out any sound that could be heard from the bedroom within. The first thing Rivaille noticed about the figure-was his eyes. They were a piercing green, rippling and haunting with just a light _flicker _of silver. After that, was the tousled mop of brown hair, which looked like it hadn't been combed in centuries.

A slithering of robes was heard, and a high heeled boot stepped into the moonlight. Rivaille was backed against door now, frantically trying to keep his composure. "W-Who are you?" He demanded in true Rivaille fashion. A soft laugh could be heard. Rivaille found that sound oddly intoxic, which caused some _strange _reactions-

"Snappish tonight, aren't we?" The strange boy came closer, towering over him. Rivaille inwardly cursed whichever family member of his branch had the short genes.

"Tonight? What the hell do you mean by that?"

A scarlet covered hand came up to lift his chin, the glove flexing to mold his skin. "Why, _every _night, you'll get the.._pleasure _of your life, monsieur."  
"This isn't fucking France! We're in England, for god's sake! And there's a war going on!"

"But with a _war _going on, a soldier needs all the relaxation and _comfort _that he can get, right?"

A pair of cold lips landed on his neck, a sharp tongue gliding and caressing the flesh there.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

*beep* yeah. Hey..that's actually a pretty good idea..devil!Eren..hmm..should I make this into a actual story? :D

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews make Rivaille kiss all the pain away!

P.S I was thinking about making a side pairing. :/ You guys have any ideas? Tell me your thoughts about the omake too! Thank you all for reading! I LOVE YOU GUYS!


	13. Chapter 13

**Evening **

Things were looking up somewhat, Rivaille decided, looking back at Eren. The boy was limping along-but he was a little better yesterday, but still releasing the occasional cough or sneeze. Apparently, Rivaille had fallen asleep on Eren's leg, and now that leg was asleep. Rivaille was affronted. He didn't weight _that _much, mind you. The first thing that he'd told Eren to do after the boy was up-was to take a shower. He smelled _horrendus, _and Rivaille swore that if he got so much as 3 feet close to him-and these were his exact words-"I'll cut your nipples off."

Of course, Eren had immediately rushed to the river to scrub himself off, borrowing Rivaille trusty bar of soap. None of them mentioned what happened last night-

mainly because Eren felt awkward and self conscious, and Rivaille was just..._Rivaille _and not mentioning anything that didn't have to do with titans and cleaning.

When Eren'd gotten done scrubbing himself, Rivaille had kicked him and told him to "fucking get a move on." They'd lost enough time with Eren being "sick" and all, and now they had to catch that time up, which is why Eren was forced to walk. Rivaille had refused outright to carry him, snapping that Eren'd caused enough trouble-and- "Would you just move that goddamn ass of yours faster?!"

Eren whimpered and hobbled faster to catch up to the irked commander.

~X~

Mikasa and Armin were settling down for the night, unpacking a bit of food to share. Armin was chewing on a stale piece of bread, watching the fire flickering. The light shone in his eyes, making them waver and blink; his eyes were too light to reflect anything.

Mikasa was laying on her side, looking at the bombs that they'd left. Yesterday, they'd encountered another titan on the plains that they were in right now, and used up three bombs, because Armin had overshot one and exploded a tree.

Mikasa rolled around two black dots in her palm, frowing as she listened to the soft _clink clink _of the metal. "After this, what are we going to do?"

Armin shrugged and tossed her a pear. "We'll cross that road when we get there. Right now, just relax. We need all our strength in the morning."

Mikasa nodded, biting into the fruit. "Do you think that Eren's okay?"

"He's fine," Armin reassured. "I can just imagine Rivaille kicking him around right now..._You're f-ing slow, brat! Move faster!_" Armin did a absolutely horrible imitation of the corporal. _  
_

"...was that honestly supposed to reassure me?" Mikasa asked, eyes smiling a bit despite the frown tugging on her face.

Armin laughed. "Well, you wouldn't want me to say that they're the best of friends now-helping eachother out with everything, right?"

Mikasa closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her temples. "..I can't even imagine that."

**Mikasa's imagination **

(Rivaille and Eren have freaking huge shojo manga eyes..you should know what those look like..)

"Oh Eren, you need help?" Rivaille came to look at Eren, who was struggling to pull his pants up, obvious concern in his eyes.

"Oh! Rivaille~!" Eren giggled, looking at him and batting his eyelashes. "That would be _lovely_! But.." He turned away, a blush on his cheeks. "I'm afraid that I would inconvience you!"

Rivaille bent down and held Eren's hands in his. "No, no, don't think of it like that! I would do _anything _for you, my friend!"

**End of Mikasa's imagination. **

"Oy! Mikasa! Mikasa!" Armin hissed lowly, waving a hand in front of her face. Mikasa jumped and opened her eyes, the half-eatan pear almost slipping out of her hands. She grabbed it quickly, saving from a dirty death.

"What?" She whispered back, eyes darting around.

"I hear something!"

"Is it a titan?"

"I don't think so; it's too quiet."

Mikasa grimaced and closed her eyes again, listening for any noises. Sure enough, there were soft, light footsteps creeping towards them. "Humans?"

"most likely."

"What would humans be doing out here, then?!"

"I don't know!"

Mikasa groaned and inconspicuously got her sword from where it was laying by the fire. "Don't let them think that we know."

Armin nodded, getting his sword as well. "On the count of three?"

Mikasa nodded, darting wary eyes back and forth across the plains. "One.."

"Two.."

"Three!" They both leapt up then, tensing in half-crouches. A burst of action came from the east and west sides of the plains. There were scurries of quick footfalls, and as they looked for the source of the commotion, they saw them.

Horses. But it wasn't just the horses that were coming at them. There were people on the horses-faces covered by hooded cloaks and robes, riding towards them.

"Do you think they're harmless?" Armin quickly asked Mikasa, sword trembling in his hand.

"If they were harmless, don't you think that they'd have put a flag of truce or something of that sort?" Mikasa replied, eyes fixed on the approaching problem.

"...Never mind." Armin gulped and faced the other side; he was back to back with Mikasa now.

The quick _ka thump _of the horses were growing closer, and as they neared them, Armin noticed thin curved arches in their hands. "Mikasa! They have-"

A thin arrow twanged by them, the vibration making it shiver for a moment before rooting into the ground. Mikasa clutched her blade tighter and shifted her bag up to her shoulder; she was going to use that as a shield to block as many arrows possible.

There was a harsh whinny from the lead horse as it whistled right by them, and a dark figure rolled off the steed, landing on his feet deftly. This was reciprocated by each rider and horse, until Mikasa and Armin were surrounded by a whole brigade of people.

"Who..are you?" Armin gulped and bowed slightly-not enough to look submissive, but not enough to look impolite either.

"We are...the _Sgherstein._" The low voice in the front took off his hood, revealing his face in the firelight. Armin had to hold back a gasp; a corner of the man's face was missing, from the bottom of his right eye to his chin, there was just a strip of hollow.._organs_, with stripped skin and flesh.

At an unknown signal, the rest of the cult took their hoods off as well, and Mikasa and Armin noticed that they all were injured in some way, weather it be a damaged face, or missing limbs. Armin pressed closer to Mikasa, whispering-"_What the hell is this?"_

The leader spread his arms wide, as if they were long lost friends that he hadn't seen in a long time. "Worship Eryat! The god of flesh, who created the titans! We must bow to his every wish, for his word is the word of god!"

"Created the titans?" Mikasa's eyes furrowed.

"No." Armin gasped. "The titans couldn't have been created by a _god_-we don't even know if gods exist!"

The leader smiled and put his arms down slowly and carefully with a precision that frightened Armin. "Eryat knows that humankind is suffering. He created the titans to get all the _dirty _people out. All the people who died; they're only part of Eyat's plan to cleanse the world!"

"Bullshit!" Armin looked at Mikasa in surprise-he'd never heard her cuss before. "There were good people who died out there! Are you saying that all this-all their deaths-was part of Eyat's 'wonderful plan to restore the world'?! If your 'god' really cared about you, shouldn't he want humankind to have _less _sacrifices?!"

Out of all the responses Armin could've thought, he could've never imagined for the leader to smile and beckon to a person who was standing behind him. A small box was passed from the person to the leader-and that box was _velvet_, a substance that was almost extinct today. _Why did they have something like that?! _ Inside, there was a faint shimmer-a dagger was resting on the velvet fabric, glistening and sparking in the light of the moon.

"For Eryat." And with a small breath, the leader slashed his wrist-as Armin looked at him, he could see other scars there too; he'd obviously done this ritual before.

"Armin. Do you see how they're looking at him?" Mikasa breathed into his ear. Sure enough, the rest of the procession was staring at their leader in awe and something that could've been described as _reverence_, but the blood-they were staring at it hungrily and greedily, eyes wide with lust.

"What the hell is this?" Armin breathed, sickened.

The leader offered his wrist to them. "Join us." He hissed. "We will bring you to the light of Eryat. He will save and protect you from everything!"

"We're not joining your cult!" Mikasa breathed, shifting her stance.

_"We are not a cult!" _the scream of the leader was enough to make Armin and Mikasa fall silent. _"We are true worshipers of Eryat and everything that he represents!" _

_"Eryat..Eryat.." _the murmur of the rest of the group was soft and lilting. They'd bowed so low that their noses were touching the dirt of the plains.

"Is this like the religion that worships the walls?" Armin asked, hitching his breath.

"We do not worship those _walls _that humans use to hide from Eryat..we despise them." And the hatred in that voice was enough to rival Eren's.

"Could Eryat..be the ape-titan?" Armin gulped.

Mikasa gritted her teeth. "Don't speculate about that now! We have more pressing matters!"

"Join us.." The leader repeated. "Or else.."

"Is that a threat?" Mikasa gritted her teeth and bit her lip.

"Will you join?" The priest didn't answer her question.

"No!" Armin gasped; the mob was shifting and growing. Three people on the front row reached up their hands to their mouths-he recognized that movement. "Mikasa! They're all human-titans!"

Mikasa cursed, running back to where their supplies were. "Are they abnormal?"

Armin gulped as the first human transformed into a 10 meter titan. "Not that I know of!"

Mikasa quickly hoisted their bags on her shoulder and ran back to Armin. "We're making a run for it!"

Armin nodded, shifting glances back at the mob. The titans quickly caught up to them, screeching and yelling. The 10 meter grabbed Mikasa in his grip, leering. Then a 8 meter came from behind and choked Armin, dangling his feet from the air.

"Don't hurt them." The tone of the leader was calm and collected. "I want them.._alive._"

The titans growled for a moment longer, then walked back to the mob with slow, calculating steps. Armin and Mikasa looked at each other in despair and alarm.

_What were they going to do now?_

~X~

Eren was burning. He squinted up ahead to where Rivaille was, wincing as the moon shone in his eyes. Even the moon was too bright tonight-it seemed like a shining beacon to Eren.

"Rivaille?" He ventured.

"Hm?" The other didn't look back at him; continuing walking.

"Is the moon..really bright to you?"

Rivaille stopped, looking back at Eren. "What the hell are you saying? The moon's the moon, unless your head's screwed up."

"But.." Eren put a hand to his forehead, wavering. "It's just really…bright.."

Rivaille looked at him with a mixture of disdain and concern. "Deal with it."

He continued walking, only to hear a thump from behind him. He whirled back around-Eren had fainted, lying there on the forest floor. "Eren?"

Eren started shifting, moving around and groaning. His body withered, the motions increasingly faster each time he convulsed, building up, when-there was a cloud of smoke, and when Rivaille impatiently moved it away, Eren's titan was leering down at him. "Oy! Eren! I told you not to-"

A gigantic fist slammed by Rivaille's side, making him curse and jump away. "Eren! What the hell?!"

"RAWWWGGHHHHH!" Eren started panting heavily, tongue lolling out. What was strange, Rivaille thought-was that it sounded like _two _roars, instead of one. But Eren was clearly the only titan here-so-

He spun around to the back of the titan, sliding and slipping on the neck. Another face leered at him from the back-_Eren's titan had **two **heads. _

"Oh, fuck. Are you an abnormal now too?!" Rivaille sighed in expiration, inwardly cursing. _How was he supposed to cut Eren out now?! _The titan growled at him, hands reaching to his back; he could see Rivaille clearly from there.

"Eren! Wake up, you dumbass! It's me! Rivaille!" The titan did nothing but give another roar and charge, hands groping and searching for him. The other head made it worse, snapping and hissing at Rivaille.

Rivaille thought quickly, mind moving. If Eren was now an **_abnormal _**, then he couldn't cut Eren out without sufficient time-which he didn't have now, goddammit!

That aside, he might end up hurting Eren, which was something that had to be avoided, so saying.

"Shit shit shit!" He avoided the foot that came stomping down by his leg. He had to conserve gas as well, because then, if they ran out of that and met another abnormal titan, then they would be fucked. Literally.

* * *

Sorry for the late update, guys! D: I'm in Austin right now! yay! :D So, yesterday we went to Seaworld..AND THERE WERE NO TURTLES. nnnooooooooo muu

(Sorry, I know you don't want o hear about my private life.I'll shut up now. :D

So, here's a kinda longish chapter to pull you through-I don't know when I'll update next..and who knows..when Free! airs, I might switch fandoms..NONONONO RIVAEREEEEEEE FTWW. XD

I made a twitter recently..so if you want to keep up with my updates..I sometimes give story hints too..*winkwinknudgenudege* Link's on my profile, if you want to! (you know you want to) *waggles eyebrows suggestively*

Yeah.

Not a long author notes this time...so sorry for the late updateee!

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

P.S I JUST SAW THE MOST AMAZING TUMBLR POST. I COULD NOT STOP LAUGHINGGGG

THIS IS NOT BY MEEEE (darn), but crimsoninsight

* * *

**I should probably brush up on my German before I go to Germany, or else it'd be like-**

**Germans:** Kann ich Ihnen helfen?**Me:** SIE SIND DAS ESSEN UND WIR SIND DIE JÄGER HOH HOH HOH

* * *

Please review! Thank you! (reviews save lives. It was scientifically proven. o.0)


	14. Chapter 14

There was a faint pounding sound in the air, not unlike that of a heartbeat. Armin groggily lifted his head, conscious of his aching back and neck.

_Drums? _

Mikasa, who had gotten up before him, was staring at the dark tent in front of them, eyes mindlessly roaming.

_That's right.._

The human-titans had captured them, bringing them to their "camp" or "temple", whatever they had called it. And on the way, to make it 'easier', they'd knocked them out efficiently, saying something about the location being 'secret' and sacred.

"Where would the camp be, anyway?" Armin remembered thinking.

There'd been a forest on the outskirts of the plains; they were heading towards that the last time that he'd checked.

"Mikasa!" He hissed, struggling to turn his head. They were bound by tough vines and pinned to trees; all their weapons had been taken from them as well.

"Armin!" Her expression turned relieved for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," He impatiently waved her concern off. "Do you think that Eren could've been taken by them too?"

"I don't see him," Mikasa said, scanning the line of tents again.

"He could be somewhere else, he's a human titan, remember? For that, he could have been perused by the Sgherstein for his ability so that they could add another guard."

"What about Rivaille?" Miksaa murmered. "I can't imagine him getting captured-or letting Eren get captured at all, for that matter."

Armin sighed; looking downcast. "I guess.." For a moment, he'd hoped that they were getting closer to Eren, but now-they were stuck here, immobilized, while Eren was probably moving quickly, further away from them.

"More pressing matters; what are they going to do with us?" Mikasa shifted, her bonds tightening.

"They did say something about making us join their 'religion'," Armin whispered back, "Do you think they'll try to brainwash us or something?"

"They'll use force." Mikasa nodded to herself. "But would that really work?"

"Who knows?" Armin shrugged.

A twig snapped by them; Mikasa flipped to see what it was-just a rabbit, crouching by the bushes.

"By the way," Mikasa murmered. "Do you see any titans around?"

Armin stilled in surprise; he hadn't noticed that. "No.." he breathed. "Where are they? There are bound to be some titans in this forest…"

"They don't have a wall either." Mikasa pointed out. "And the only weapons they seem to have are arrows, but that won't be very effective against titans-or is there another weak spot?"

"If there was another weak spot, Zoe probably would've found it already."

"There could be a sequence-"

"Shhh!" Armin tensed as soft footsteps came closer to them. "Someone's coming!"

A small foot extended out of the dark, and a cloaked figure came closer to them, holding two plates of what seemed to be food. The aroma was rich and heady, making Armin's mouth water.

"Who are you?" Mikasa demanded.

The figure didn't stop, or waver. It just came closer to them, feet moving to the thrumming beat that Armin heard earlier.

"Food." One word was spoken as the stranger held out two plates to them. Armin couldn't tell if it was a man or woman, its voice was too deep or too high to be sure.

"How are we supposed to eat?" Armin asked, looking down at his trapped arms.

"I am supposed to feed you." The figure bowed slightly.

"You think we would let a complete stranger, in this _cult_, to feed us?! What kind of twisted sick mind do you have?!"

The stranger did nothing but put one plate down, and reach into a small container to pull out what seemed like a fork. He/She? Turned to Armin and held out the plate and fork. "Eat."

Armin gingerly looked at the food. The scent was hypnotizing, rich and full. His stomach growled; days after eating only dried bread, he couldn't resist. There was _meat _on the plate, along with what seemed like a few fresh herbs, and a side of grapes, small and perfect.

He had just enough common sense to retain, however. "How do I know that you're not trying to poison us?"

"Poison would kill you." The figure spoke slowly and detectibly. "If we wanted to kill you, we would throw you to the titans."

That was the longest sentence Armin'd heard from the person yet. "How come there aren't any titans here?"

"Eat." The plate was held out to him again. He bit his lip and gazed at the food. "Mikasa..let's just eat for now. We don't know when we'll get food again."

Mikasa grimaced. "…..it's your death, Armin."

He laughed bitterly. "I know."

The person, who was waiting without a single sign of impatience, held out the fork, which had a piece of meat on it, to Armin. Armin opened his mouth, warily taking the first bite. It was amazing.

He hadn't tasted anything like this since-since-god, he didn't know when. He eagerly swallowed and opened his mouth for another bite.

Soon, all the food on his plate was gone, and the hooded person moved from him to Mikasa, throwing away the fork and plate; picking up Mikasa's.

She looked warily at Armin. "Do you feel weird? Strange?"

Armin shook his head. "The food is like nothing you've ever tasted before, trust me."

Mikasa sighed and opened her mouth for the first bite. Her eyes flew open as she chewed, then swallowed. Armin said nothing, but turned away as she opened her mouth for a second bite. He knew that her pride was fragile enough as it was. Being fed like a dog was probably something she never wanted Eren, or him to see.

_And he respected that. He respected the fact that she still had standards, even in this world. _

Once Mikasa was done, the clinking of plates and forks sounded, and Armin declared it safe enough to turn around. The cloaked person was cleaning up, stacking the plates neatly and putting the dirty forks in a wrapped leaf. "You never answered my question." Armin called.

"Why aren't there any titans here?"

The person stiffened, not turning around. "You'll find out at dawn."

With that, he/she walked away, robes swishing with every footstep.

"Dawn?"

~X~

Rivaille hated messes. He hated everything filthy, and unclean. Maybe that was why he hated this world so much. He didn't know if he hated humans-they were a strange mix, some clean, and some filthy. Eren was one of the filthy ones, he recalled. Dirty, Unclean, and just goddamn _fraudulent. _But he couldn't bring himself to hate him, for some reason. Maybe it was because they shared a similar dream-to kill titans and set humanity free.

However, he was unlike him in every other aspect of that. He had been in the black market, dealing with drugs, until Irvin'd found him. _"What do you wish for humanity?" _He'd said. At that time, Rivaille didn't know.

Hell, he didn't even know if he knew _now. _

Eren roared and slammed his fist into the tree that Rivaille'd landed on.

_Did he know? _Another roar, another blow.

_What did he want for humanity? _

Or was he just a selfish bastard who cared only for himself?

Rivaille grimaced as Eren's fist broke off a tree limb.

He was a selfish bastard, and he could accept that.

"Want to dance?" He breathed out, staring into the titan's flaring eyes.

A growl answered him.

"Let's dance." Rivaille flung himself skyward, whirling down in a spin. He landed on Eren's skull, gripping a few coarse hairs to keep himself from falling. Eren whirled his head around, looking for the tiny human. He reached up to his head, groping for the figure. Rivaille dodged every motion; the titan ended up causing more damage to himself than to Rivaille.

What was he going to do about that other face? Eyes were on the back of Eren's head-literally this time.

He flung himself off, barely dodging the titan's hand. Since Eren had three-sixty vision, the only place that he couldn't see now was the top.

How was he supposed to cut Eren out then? He would have to make it a clean cut as well, because they didn't have time to waste regenerating.

"Eren Jaegar!" He snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

A gruttal roar sounded.

"Fuck. Diplomacy didn't work." Rivaille sighed and drew out his other blade. "Violence solves everything-anyway."

He narrowed his eyes, then jumped off the tree branch, swinging himself in an ariel around the titan. Hopefully titan Eren was as stupid as human Eren and didn't realize what he was trying to do.

He had to use up the last of his gas for this-it was live or let die.

He whirled around-throwing the hook of his grappling line straight in Eren's throat. The titan roared and struggled, trying to dislodge the tiny item. But the little barbs on the steel tip didn't let up, only digging themselves in even further. Quickly using his weight, he shifted around-

The first line had dug itself in-one steel thread wrapping itself around Eren's throat.

There was a faint choking sound as the line tightened-his air supply was cut off.

Did titans even need to breathe?

He pushed that thought aside and concentrated at the task on hand. The second loop of wire swung itself around Eren's neck. He was almost out of the line-he had to cut it off soon.

With a yell, he _jerked _backward, tightening the steel like a noose.

"GUUWWWRRRAAAHHHHH!" Eren screamed, tongue lolling out.

At that moment, Rivaille's gas ran out, and he was sent sprawling forward, nothing to hold him up now.

He landed on Eren's back with a hard _thump_, as Eren slowly fell forward, deprived of air. He panted and went up to the titan's neck, trying desperately to avoid the snapping mouth that was trying to eat him. He grabbed two new blades and hurled them at the eyes, effectively rendering the titan blind. He didn't bother taking the swords out-would he heal the same way if the weapons were still stuck in there?

Whatever the case was, he had to move, and fast. Rivaille stuck his blade in the neck, all of his weight behind it. The flesh refused to give, bending instead under the force of the blade.

He cursed. "Shit!" Eren had recovered slightly from the choking maneuver he'd made, and was now flailing around, searching for the human that had caused all of this.

Does being an abnormal mean that titans would lose their minds?

That would mean that there would be no more abnormal minds, then-if they were all single minded like that.

He jabbed in the blade harder, twisting like he did with the other titan. The tip sank in a little bit, drawing blood. The titan roared, fighting even harder to catch Rivaille. Rivaille glanced up quickly at the other head. The eyes had healed, but the blades that were stuck in there stuck, therefore preventing it from seeing. He quickly drew out another blade-goddamnit, they were becoming dull really quickly.

This time with two blades, he pierced down, and effectively cut the skin. There was a strangled cry from the titan, and Rivaille guessed that he'd cut Eren somewhere.

He dragged the blade through, wincing as the pressure bent the blades; he had a feeling that they were about to snap. One did snap, the end embedding itself into the skin. Rivaille saw Eren's arm, stuck into the titan's flesh.

He pulled it out, scrawling up his nose in disgust as it came free with a squelching sound.

The titan had almost stopped moving, which was good for Rivaille; he'd have gotten killed if it'd done anything else.

The rest of Eren's body came free-without that opposing force, Rivaille was thrown out of the titan, Eren along with him. They were free-falling. Rivaille grabbed Eren around the waist and flipped him over, so that he was on the bottom. He spotted a thin tree branch and caught it, swinging himself and Eren back and forth so that they were balanced.

"Oy! Brat!"

* * *

SORRY I KNOW THAT THAT'S A WEIRD PLACE TO ENDDD QAQ

But, I'm sorry that this chapter was focused more on Mikasa and Armin and the creepy cult..but you'll see how everything ties together later! Muahahahah!

But don't worry, smut is coming up! (I know you guys all want itttt) a bit of a reward for all of you sticking with me for so long! :D

Whooo we're almost at 200 reviews! WE CAN DO THISSS! :D

Remember, two 4,000 word one-shots to two lucky reviewers when we reach that lovely 200~

Anyway…I love you guys!

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews save Rivaille and Eren's lovechild. (Wait, what?!)


	15. Chapter 15

There was a faint chirping of crows in the distance, harsh and brass. A trill answered them; the mockingbird had awoken. More voices joined in, and together, they heralded the arrival of morning. Armin had fallen asleep during the night, even though they both had sworn to stay awake in case something happened. "Armin!" Mikasa hissed, poking her foot to nudge him gently.

"Ergh.." Armin blinked wearily, eyes unfocused as he stared at their surroundings. It took a moment before he remembered where they were. "Ah! I fell asleep!" Armin cursed; why did it seem like he couldn't do anything right?

"Didn't the person say we would 'find out' at the arrival of dawn?" Mikasa asked Armin, her hair falling in front of her face.

"Yeah.." Armin breathed, eyes darting around warily. "I wonder..where is everyone?"

"Sleeping?"

"But if you look.." Armin pointed out. "There's only one tent. And we saw a whole mob of people. Surely they can't all be squished in there, right? Besides-the leader said that it was a temple of some sort."

Mikasa was about to reply, when the sound of approaching footsteps silenced her. "Shh! It's a titan!"

With slow, heavy footsteps, the kyojin came closer, eyes lolling backward into its head; mouth gaping wide open, showing its yellowed teeth.

There was a faint murmur of what seemed like prayer from the tent; and as Armin looked, a soft yellow light flickered and flashed in the darkness.

A muffled sob came from a little further beyond them, and as they both searched for the source of the noise, they found it. A girl was tied to another tree, bound and gagged like them. She was frantically struggling, however; the vines wouldn't loosen a inch.

The titan came even closer, licking its tongue around its fleshy lips. Saliva flicked everywhere, landing on the trees and floor. The girl let out a choked cry and trashed around, desperately kicking her feet, even though it would useless.

The titan stopped, its heavy footfalls ending. It gazed at the girl with leering eyes, baring its teeth in what seemed to be a grin.

"No…Stop..Stop.." Armin found himself gasping. "Stop.." He repeated uselessly, a few tears escaping as the titan tore the girl off her bonds easily, raising her in the air.

_He couldn't save her. _

A piercing screech was heard as the girl was dropped in the mouth; she'd torn out her vocal cords with that sound alone. With a gulp, the titan swallowed her whole, rolling its eyes in satisfaction.

_Why was he so weak? _

"Oh, mighty Eryat!" The cry of the preist carried across to Mikasa and Armin. "We hope you accept this flesh sacrifice! This is a gift from us, lowly humans-to you! The mighty god! Please, continue watching over us and our religious family!"

"They honestly don't think that the titan's going to leave after just one morsel, right?" Armin breathed. "It's going to go after the people in the tents next..and then, us!":

"Wait." Mikasa said, shifting around to get a better look at the titan. "It's.._leaving_."

"What?!" Armin choked, looking back at the titan. Sure enough, it was leaving, retreating back as slowly as it came. "If giving a sacrifice meant that the titan would leave after just one meal..would _we _do that?"

"It's a better alternative." Mikasa pointed out realistically. "A lot of people getting eaten each day, or just one sacrifice?"

"But a lot of deaths would mean a lot of lives saved in the future, right?" Armin asked desperately. "Isn't a lot of deaths worth it if we're rid of the titans forever?"

Mikasa put her head down, chin brushing her red scarf. "A lot of people don't think that, though. We each prize ourselves above everyone else. And that's why humanity has pulled through so far. A sense of self-preservation, exalted above all else."

Armin stayed quiet after that, staring into the growing light with a blank expression.

There was another quiet shuffling of robes, and the person from yesterday came up to them, this time carrying a bowl of soup. He/She took a spoon out from the pouch on her/his waist and held out them both to Armin, silently standing there. Armin was still in shock.

"Is that how you, 'take care' of titans?" Mikasa snapped at the hooded follower.

"Sacrificing innocent people just to save your religious cult?"

The person made no move of anger or panic, but rather continued holding the food and spoon out to Armin. Finally, Armin opened his mouth, robotically consuming his soup. As the hot liquid slid down his throat, he thought he smelled turnips and parsley, but now,

It tasted like nothing.

"It is the will of Eryat." The follower murmured as an answer to Mikasa's question.

When he/she didn't elaborate, Mikasa pressed further. "How does that keep the titans away? Won't they just eat the rest of the group?"

"It is the will of Eryat." The person said nothing else; he/she continued to feed Armin.

Dip the spoon in.

Bring the spoon up.

A gulp.

Dip the spoon in.

Bring the spoon up.

There as a eerie tempo about that that frightened Mikasa. It was like the followers had no soul of their own; an army of mindless dolls being controlled by a single puppeteer.

After Armin was fed, the person silently disposed of his plates; moving on to Mikasa.

As a spoon was held out to her lips, she kept them pressed shut tightly, eyes skimming over the shadow of the person. The cloak was hooding the top half of the face; all she could see was a curved mouth, set in a flat line.

"Who-no, _what _are you?" She breathed.

Eyes flickered to her-the exact color of gray. "Eat." The mouth barely moved.

Mikasa opened her mouth, accepting the soup. As she ate, she looked over the features once more, seeing if there was anything strange.

The appearance was human at least, nothing seemed abnormal or out of place As she finished the soup, the person abruptly turned, picking up Armin's plate from where he/she had tossed it to the ground.

"What do you want to us? What are you going to do with us?" Armin cried after the person, neck arched forward. The other didn't stop, moving with a slow and steady sense of purpose.

"Armin." Mikasa murmured. "Do they seem..human to you?

Armin shook his head. "More like those…" He searched for the right word.

"Metal..humans.."

"Metal humans?" Mikasa inquired. "Something out of a book I read, don't worry about it." Armin uneasily waved it off. "That book was fiction anyway."

"What was it called?"

"I forgot." Armin shortly replied, still scanning for any sign of movement.

**Two hours later**

The sun was high in the sky now, a yellow orb of burning light. Armin and Mikasa had quietly debated on weather or not the people were human, and "Eryat", god-knows-who.

They heard a slithering of robes, and looked up to the priest walking up to them, a warm smile on his face. The light threw his scar into sharp relief, exposing it to the soldiers.

"I trust you had a good sleep and meal, yes?"

"If you count being tied up with ropes as 'comfort'," Mikasa said, staring defiantly into his eyes.

The priest chuckled. "You will be good for Eryat."

Armin gulped, not trusting himself to say anything.

"No." Mikasa glared. "My place belongs elsewhere."

"No one on this world lives for other reason than to serve Eryat." The priest spread his arms. "I'm giving you one last chance. Join us! Embrace the light of Eryat and let him into your soul! He will cherish and protect you against the titans, after all, the _chosen ones _cannot be eaten, yes?"

he chuckled, folding his hands together. "Or not join and suffer the warth of the sinned and impure."

"Joining your cult is worse than death!" Mikasa snapped.

"Then.." The disturbing smile never wavered. "You have _chosen._"

The priest turned to leave, robes billowing. "Do not regret your choice."

Mikasa stared after him in disbelief. Armin was trembling visibly. "D-D-D" He shook his head and whimpered.

Mikasa looked at him. "Armin. Calm down. We'll be fine." To be honest, she wasn't even sure that what she said was true, but for Armin's sake-

More footsteps appeared. Another cloaked figure approached them. "Again?" Mikasa exhaled in impatience.

"What do you want?" She snapped. "We're not joining your cult!"

"Mikasa? Armin?" The figure panted-that voice was strangely familiar as well.

"How do you know our names?" Armin asked in surprise.

As an answer, the figure took off his hood and cloak, exposing his face.

"Jean?!"

~X~

Eren was perched on Rivaille's back, still and quiet. He still hadn't awaken from his titan pseudo mode, even sometimes trying weakly to hit Rivaille. Rivaille cursed the fact that his wire broke, but he had no other option now than to run on the ground, at the risk of titans.

Soon enough, even Rivaille couldn't run for that long, so he had to stop for a short break, indulging himself in a little water.

Eren was still out cold, but with signs of life now, shivering and stirring.

_How did Eren turn abnormal? _Rivaille bit his lip as he thought.

_What happened? We were at the desert, then suddenly-_

_He started coughing. _What was the reason for that? He breathed out, caressing his fingers to his forehead. They hadn't passed anything suspicious…

"Rivaille?" A shaky breath brought him back to reality. "Oy, brat. You're finally awake?"

Eren laughed weakly. "I would say something, but.." He turned over. "What happened?"

"What do you think happened?" Rivaille sat down by him, reclining by a tree.

Eren put a hand to his head. "I don't know-it was just all so.._red_ and-and-oh god, don't tell me that I attacked you."

Rivaille snorted. "Gas and Blades. You owe me big time, fucker."

"You have no more gas or blades left?"

"No thanks to your freaking abnormal titan skin."

"Well, excuse me for being so _useful_."

Rivaille didn't respond to that, only looking towards the south of the forest. "..There was a place that I once stayed here in the forest.."

"You mean that you've been here before?"

"Humanity's territory was a lot wider then; this was actually among the outskirts."

"Come," Rivaille stood up, brushing his cloak off. "Let's go."

Eren got up unsteadily. Rivaille came to him and slung Eren's arm around his shoulder.

"..Thanks." Rivaille gave a grunt of uncommitted effort, hoisting Eren up higher; he couldn't support Eren that much because of his height.

Now, they were walking west instead of forward, crossing and breaking foliage.

"..Don't you think that it's nice to have no titans around for once?" Eren breathed out, looking up at the sunlight and squinting. "You can actually learn to appreciate things around you, instead of looking frantically for danger..right?"

Rivaille looked up at the sun; it blinded his eyes. He didn't reply, just looking at the nature around him-it was unrealistically beautiful, as if he was seeing it for the first time.

"We're almost here." He murmured later. Eren looked at him in concern. He'd been quiet through most of the journey here, lost in his own thoughts.

"Rivaille?" He asked in concern, poking the corporal. "Stop it, Eren." Rivaille waved his hand away aimlessly.

There was actually a burning smell in the air now; it tickled Eren's nose, making him sneeze.

"Don't get sick on me again." Rivaille gritted his teeth. "That was annoying as it was."

"I'm sorry.." Eren quieted down, fading into the background as Rivaille stepped into sparse area.

There was a rubble of what seemed like charred wood, along with rocks and stones.

Rivaille looked at it in what seemed like disbelief, walking forward mindlessly. He pushed aside a pebble with his foot, head bowed down. Suddenly, he dropped down to the ground and started tearing at the wooden boards, not caring if his hands were bleeding.  
"Rivaille-"

"Shut up! _Shut up!_" Rivaille panted, harshly damaging his fingers in the haste to pull the boards apart. "No..No.."

What he could ravage from the site was a burned chair, one leg missing, and a glass mirror, cracked perfectly down the middle.

He fell back on his knees, head facing the sky. "How.."

Eren came gingerly up behind him and enfolded him in an embrace. "Stop it! Get the fuck away from me! You monster!" Rivaille pounded and hit him with his fists, eyes screwed shut. Eren took every blow, holding the other to him tightly.

"Stop!" Rivaille was screaming now. "You don't understand! They never do!"

"I never said that I understood." Eren pointed out quietly.

"You were assuming it in your head, right?! I heard about how your mother died-eaten by a titan, legs crushed by the rubble-_at least you saw her! You saw!_"

Rivaille's blows were coming weaker now, which Eren was grateful for, because he was going to get hell of bruises later. "I never saw.." He whispered, voice rough. "I never saw how my father died. And this was the only thing he left me."

There was a choked sound not unlike crying.

But..that wasn't right.

Because the corporal didn't cry.

Rivaille buried his face in Eren's shoulder, wetting it. "Ah…God..why?"  
"Why?!" Eren clutched him even tighter. "I-I-" Rivaille slumped against him. "I'm just so tired of it all..someone just..kill me now.."

Eren didn't say anything, just held him. "Look, Rivaille." He pointed up. "Rain is falling."

"I don't care." Rivaille snapped, brushing away that statement.

He lifted his head up. "Well? Why won't you do it? Kill me now! You have a blade, don't you?! Get revenge on all the pain I caused you! Do it!"

Eren shook his head. "I won't." He firmly resolved. "I won't."

"_Why?!_" Rivaille choked, bowing his head down against Eren's knees. "Why?"

"Isn't dying a selfish thing to do? You leave all the people out there who love you and care-"

"All the people that I loved have died." Rivaille shortly replied.

"I won't die."

"What the fuck are you implying? I don't freaking _love _you." Rivaille snorted, disbelief etched on his face.  
Eren felt a twist in his chest, but ignored it. "Yeah…."

Rivaille harshly jerked up and rubbed his hands across his eyes. "Let's get going."

Eren stopped his hand. "Didn't you say that rubbing your eyes would make them swollen?"

Rivaille stopped in surprise. "Yeah..I did, didn't I?"

He let out a forced chuckle. "I did." He repeated sadly.

_That was the first time Eren saw the Corporal cry_

_He cried for the loss of a humane earthly link to his father, _

_And the fact that nothing was ever truly eternity.. . _

~X~

_**Rivaille **_

_I used to think that crying was for the weak, and only the strong survived in this world. _

Eren turned to me, smiling. "Crying isn't a sign that you're weak. Ever since birth, it was been a sign that you're _alive_. You're alive." He repeated.

_I used to be sorely convinced that sapphires were blue, and emeralds were green_

_Then you came and turned my world inside out, upside down, until I didn't which way was up anymore. _

_You, who for some infallible reason, was weeping, said-_

_"You are lying, and that makes me sad." _

_"But I never told you a single lie." _

_As soon as I said that, you started crying once more. _

_I used to reassure myself,_

_When the paper airplane that I threw-_

_Full of my foolish whishes that seemed so beautiful at that time-_

_that didn't reach the sky, but instead_

_came back down to my feet-_

_"It was just too far away. _

_That's all. _

_**That's all. **_

_And-_

_there was a time when I climbed the side of a building,_

_repeating desperately to myself that the stars up there were not a myth. _

_At the top,_

_overlooking the town,_

_I tired to reach those mythical lights. _

_"..I'm just not tall enough." _

_Now, _

_I think to myself,_

_my beliefs are just a mirror,_

_Reflecting my repeating delusions of a perfect world. _

_But when that mirror,_

_that sick fantasy,_

_that desperate, _

_oblivious_

_illusion shatters-_

_There is nothing but shards of dust left on your palms. _

_Did you know? _

_I am scared of the moon. _

_Mainly, _

_because I think, sometimes,_

_"That could be me, up there."_

_With no light of my own to shine upon the world, only reflecting what others saw. _

_But, still. _

_The sun's warmth was too brilliant and bright,_

_my pupils couldn't help but dilute every time I faced it. _

_I've given up on the exuseful theory,_

_that everything in the world is masked_

_beautifully. _

_And that only the gifted, _

_and few, _

_could unveil that ugly screen, _

_and see the true facade underneath. _

_Until I have found a warmth untriumpthed by any other, _

_until I find a kindness that lets me say-_

_"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you-" _

_Over and Over and Over again, _

_Until I find a feeling that makes me feel like the world,_

_is somehow, _

_sometimes, _

_beautiful, _

_I guess,_

_I'll keep searching._

* * *

AHHH SO MUCH ANGST I'M SORRY

QAQ

Just warning you, there might be some more angst ahead in the story too..hope you guys enjoy this long chapter! :D Mikasa and Armin took up more words than I relized..and Rivaille and Eren had their little mo-mo…

Anyway..a little sneak-peek at the next chapter! (I need to write one-shot requests, so the next chapter might be a little late…^^)

**Sneak Peek-**

"What?" Eren stared at him in disbelief. Rivaille was sprawled on a bed of moss invitingly, beckoning to him. "Come here."

"Rivaille..you're not thinking straight.." Eren shook his head.

"Take me away. "Rivaille breathed as soon as Eren was in his grasp. He clamped his arms around him tightly. "Take me. Isn't receiving easier than giving?"

**End of Sneak Peek**

..Yeah. Smut in the next chapter for all!

Sorry if I made Rivaille a little OOC..but I mean, under all that awesome cleaning and titan kicking ass, he's still human, right? ..Yeah.

Oh yeah! :D I got my first (kinda) flame on this story! ^^

Reply to "Anon"-First of all, let me say something. _I do not respect people who hide behind anon. _

But-if you're complaining about people shipping Rivaille and Eren, I'm sorry-

Why the fuck did you even click on this fanfiction?

RivailleXEren, it says. Labeled romance on the genre as well. I'm sorry if you like ErenXMikasa-don't get me wrong, I support them too, just not as much as Rivaille and Eren.

_People have their own rights to write and support __**whatever **__they want. _

I'm sorry if I'm acting like a bitch right now, but if you don't like Eren and Rivaille, don't complain about people who ship them. They have just as much right to support Eren and Rivaille as you do to support Eren and Mikasa.

If you bash gay couples, it would be lovely if you kept it to yourself, a lot amazing people out there are homosexual.

This fandom does have some awesome stories, but in no way are the people who write Rivaille and Eren ruining it. In fact, some of the best writers out there are RivailleXEren fans.

(I know quite a lot of people who ship both MikasaEren and RivailleEren too.)

If you want more Mikasa and Eren fanfiction, why don't you write some of your own?

You'll be doing good to the MikasaXEren fandom too!

Just because we support RivailleXEren dosen't mean that we're any different from you or any other shippers. We just think that those two look really well together, so we write fanfiction! (yay headcanon) TBH, Rivaere has just enough chance to happen as Mikasa and Eren. I'm not saying that it's really likely to happen, but

_Fanfictions aren't just about couples that are 'canon' _as you put it. Fanfiction is just a tool to let our fantasies run wild. That's why fanfiction is so fun. You can write about literally everything.

If you want to bash my **writing,** as long as you have a good reason, I'm completely fine with that. Actually, I like constructive crit. But **don't bash couples**. It's the same as RivailleXEren fans bashing MiksaaXEren. And you would be freaking pissed if that happened, right?

If you think that this review is going to make me stop writing Rivaere…I'm sorry…you motivated me even more. ^^" Thank you for the motivation!

…Anyway. Who watched the new Free! Episode?! Whooooooooo! (yay (almost!) naked apron sceneee) and the (almost!) naked bath sceneeee

I love fanservice. Rin…ahhhh *I can never look at any anime guy the same way again* haha..sorry about babbling about a completely random anime on here..

We broke 200 reviews! Yayyyy (I've been dying to say this) So. *raises eyebrows suggestively*

Two 4,000 word oneshots. Whoo will winnnnnnnn?!

I actually have the winners out already..thank you all for reviewing!

1.) **Klicks** (…what the hell have I gotten myself into?!)

Andddddd…..**SeraphineHeartfilia**!

I'll PM you two later to get the prompts-(or you can PM me)

As you probably know, you can either request a 4,000 word oneshot of your prompt choice, or you can choose the plot line of the next chapter! (4,000 words too)

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews will make Rivaille and Eren realize what's in front of them. (dat booty *sorrycouldn'thelpmyself*)

What do you guys think of Armin and Jean as a couple?


	16. Chapter 16

Armin was in shock. Jean was standing in front of them, talking like nothing had happened.

Jean.

**Jean.**

_Jean. _

"_I'll save you!" Armin mindlessly gasped as the 10 meter titan held Jean up to his mouth._

"_Armin!" Jean reached out a hand desperately-_

_Just like how Eren did, so long ago. _

"_Jean!" Armin screamed as his horse balked and whinnied, throwing him off. "No!" _

_With a gulp, the boy vanished inside the gaping craven, and the titan turned to face him, wiping his mouth-_

_Like nothing had happened. _

_Like one of Armin's best friends didn't get eaten._

_That Jean, Jean Killstein, didn't just __**vanish **__from this world._

"_Each life is its own little world, Armin." He'd remembered his mother in that moment, scolding him as he blabbered enthusiastically about war and battle. _

"_So don't take death lightly. Once someone dies, they can never come back, Armin. You understand that, don't you?" _

_**Jean was never coming back.**_

_What happened next, Armin forgot. He just remembered Rivaille shouting at him to "move your ass up, motherfucker!" and stagnantly helping him on his horse when he did nothing. What happened after that? Did the titan try to eat him too? Or maybe, it did eat him._

_And this was all a dream. Because Jean couldn't exist. _

_**He had died. **_

"Who the hell are you?!" Armin spat, eyes wide.

"Armin! It's me, Jean! Don't you remember?" Jean looked at him in confusion.

Mikasa nudged him. "Armin, what's wrong?"

"You died!" Armin gasped.

"You died! I saw you getting eaten by that titan! Mikasa!" He turned to face the girl. "don't believe him! He's an imposter!" Armin pleaded, desperately trying to make her see sense.

Because people who died didn't just **come back. **

**Life didn't work that way. **

"Armin!" Jean hissed. "Don't believe me now, for all you want, but you two are in huge trouble."

"Like we didn't know that." Armin laughed bitterly, glaring at Jean. "Is there any more useless information that we need to know?"

Mikasa looked at him sharply. "Armin. He might be our only chance of survival."

"What are they going to do to us?" She added, looking at Jean.

"They're going to eat you."

"The human-titans?"

"No. The whole religious cult."

"Human eating humans?" Mikasa asked in disbelief.

"Eryat grants them the blood of the sinners, so that they can purge them from the world."

"Don't tell me you believe in that religious bastard." Armin hissed. "Traitor."

"It's a façade!" Jean whispered. "I had no other choice-I was desperate, they had food and shelter-I had to live! I couldn't die, not yet." His face was a man's crazed mask of helplessness.

"You two should've done the same! They would've taken good care of you then! Food and shelter-then we could all escape together! But, no-you two have to be shitty fucking _heroes, _and deny everything 'evil', as you put it. What's more important than living?"

Armin and Mikasa looked at each other. Armin finally looked away. "Eren's missing." Mikasa murmured. "So is Rivaille."

"What the fuck?"

"We think that they..abandoned us."

"Eren would never leave you guys." Jean pressed. "Eren and I don't exactly see eye to eye, but he would do anything for you guys-even die for your sakes."

"Well, not this time." Armin snapped. "You still haven't explained to us how you're miraculously 'alive' yet."

Jean was about to open his mouth to retort, when footsteps started towards them. "I'll talk later." He whisked his cloak over his face, then stepped away calmly and slowly, easily slipping back to that strange rhythm that everyone here seemed to have.

It was the cloaked person-the same one who fed them-again, quietly coming closer to Armin and Mikasa. But this time, there were no plates or silverware in his/her hands, but a long string of rough rope.

He/she stopped by them, head bowed down; her/his fingers were twitching spastically, as if he/she couldn't wait to tie the thread around their necks and just _snap_.

Armin was frightened beyond belief, even though he knew that Mikasa could probably take care of the figure.

Without looking at Armin, elongated fingers crept up, trembling, to clutch his bondages.

First, his wrist restraints were slipped off, the person breaking them with a single flick of their fingers.

Armin was panicking inwardly. Neither he and Mikasa could break through the restrains, even though they were plain forest vines.

_How could this person break through so easily? _

Quietly, he/she-(no, _it_) broke the rest of the vines without a single sign of effort.

When Armin, released, fell heavily to the ground, his head spun as the person knelt down by him.

There was a sickly decoying smell; he tried to vomit, but a cold skeletal hand slapped over his mouth, jerking his head back. He was relatively conscious of Mikasa screaming his name in the background, but all he heard was the rasping breath of the person who was holding him down,

Smelling that sick smell of rotting flesh.

"Eryat will be pleased." The person panted, then Armin felt a tight pressure on the back of his neck. His eyes rolled back in his head, his heart jerked erratically-and he fell,

face forward

into the dusty ground.  
~X~

Rivaille still hadn't stopped, even though he and Eren had been walking for half-a quarter of the sun cycle. Eren knew better than to complain, but his feet and head were aching, his tongue almost lolling out of his mouth due to his dehydration.

So it came as a complete surprise when Rivaille came to a stop when they reached a small clearing. The Corporal turned around and looked at him. "We're taking a break."

Despite his confusion, he nodded anyway, completely grateful that Rivaille had decided to give them a break after walking for so long. He swore if he didn't drink some water soon he was going to die!

Eren set his bag down and finally took his long-withheld sip of beautiful hydration. While Eren was trying not to guzzle all of his water in one go, Rivaille walked into a small corner of the clearing.

"Eren."

Slightly choking on his water from being startled, Eren jerked up, looking for Rivaille. His eyes swept the clearing until they finally found the Corporal…sitting on a bed of moss. Heat started to build up in his body. Was it just him or was he the only one who thought that the position Rivaille was in looked erotic?

His legs were spread wide apart, one arm in between them, the other beckoning him. Entranced, Eren slowly got to his feet and walked over to the man. Once he was in front of Rivaille, he gasped in surprise when Rivaille yanked him down on top of himself.

"Fuck me." The breathy voice of the Corporal tickled Eren's ear. The heat in his body suddenly swelled in his nether regions, but he ignored it and tried to lean backwards, away from the Corporal.

"What?" Eren stared at him in disbelief.

"Come here." Rivaille nearly growled, pulling him close again.

"Rivaille...you're not thinking straight." Eren shook his head while biting his lip to resist the temptation in front of him. "You're going to regret this later."

"Take me anyway." Rivaille sighed into his hair, slender fingers winding through the dark tresses.

Dimly Eren wondered if Rivaille had ever played the piano. Surely no one could naturally have such elegant fingers like that…

"Take me." Rivaille repeated. "Isn't receiving easier than giving?"

"I don't know-" Eren caught himself and swallowed back the urge to call him sir. Old habits do die hard. "I've never done it like this before."

"Well, you're doing it now, aren't you?" Rivaille gazed at him, his eyes full of lust. "Just fuck me. Just how I fucked you." He rubbed sensually against Eren. "You know you want to. I know you want to."

The last threads of Eren's control snapped, and he lost it. With a growl of desperation, Eren hastily pinned Rivaille to the ground and captured his lips in a harsh kiss, sucking and biting the soft skin. Rivaille let out a gasp of surprise below him, but quickly responded, hands splaying across Eren's back. "Mmhh."

Eren moved down to Rivaille's neck, quickly latching onto his collarbone, furiously biting down into the skin with his teeth and sucked hard. Rivaille was his. His, and his alone. As he claimed his territory, he listened with sadistic pleasure at the sounds Rivaille made, arching up into his touch.

"Eren..." Rivaille called out huskily.

Quickly Eren found Rivaille's jacket with fumbling fingers, and ripped it off. He threw it carelessly, only slightly hoping it landed near their bags. But he couldn't be bothered if it did or didn't right now.

His fingers lovingly caressed the cravat that the corporal always wore, sliding the silk out of the shirt. Rivaille was a present, wrapped in layers of differing emotions and protective barriers, much like the walls that protected the last of humanity.

And like the titan he was, Eren was going to break through all of that.

He was going to take the corporal.

Going to break down all of Rivaille's boundaries.

Make him scream his name in desperation and pleasure.

He was going to make Rivaille feel like he'd never felt before…

Because Rivaille deserved better.

_This time, he was the hunter, and Rivaille was his prey._

Hastily, the shirt came off, and Eren took advantage of the exposed skin, caressing it with a loving mouth and lips. He pressed butterfly kisses to the corporal's ribs, loving the tiny wiggle that Rivaille made each time. Who knew that the corporal was ticklish? He then went for the nipples, licking his tongue around each dusky bud, treating them gently. Rivaille groaned in what seemed like impatience, thrusting up his clothed erection to meet Eren's hips. Eren muffled a groan of his own and teasingly licked his other nipple, making Rivaille wait for once in his life.

Rivaille sighed in pleasure and sank into him, hands gripping his shoulders.  
Eren carefully took off his belt and maneuver gear, noting that if he broke any part, Rivaille would have his head.

When that was done, he pulled back for a moment to examine his work. Rivaille was beneath him, flushed and bare, every inch of his skin flushed and-dare he say it?

_Beautiful._

Quickly he moved onto his pants, tugging the fabric off with a quick sweep of his hand. Rivaille was completely naked now, open to him.

As he observed him, he pressed gentle kisses to his face, mimicking the tear streaks that dried earlier.

Finally, he moved to the thighs, running his lips over the smooth inside. Rivaille sank back into the moss; he didn't care if he was dirty anymore. He was throwing everything away. All of his morals, his beliefs.

Screw science.

Screw nature.

Screw everything.

He was going to live in this moment, and this moment alone. He gasped softly as Eren fondled him, cupping his hand around his erection. Eren slid his mouth all the way, taking it to the hilt. And dear god…it felt amazing.

Eren pulled his mouth back, sliding his tongue in a slow circle around the tip, then taking him back in his mouth again. Rivaille grunted and tensed. He could feel his climax approaching rapidly.

The whole time Eren enjoyed his small form of torture on the man below him. This kind of power and dominance was riveting. He could get used to being in control like this for once. As Eren's mouth came up again he teased the slit with his tongue and sucked gently when suddenly seed sprayed into his mouth. Out of reflex he swallowed it and instantly concluded that Rivaille had a strange, but overall good taste. It was a mixture of bitter black coffee and something salty…perhaps like the ocean maybe.

"Eren…" Rivaille panted, arching up into his touch. Eren moved in to capture his lips again, sealing them with a gentle kiss. He pulled away after a moment and stuck two fingers into his mouth. He swiveled his tongue around his own fingers, coating them with saliva. Once he was satisfied he pulled them out and placed then at Rivaille's entrance.

Gently, he rubbed the pert hole and every so often placed a little bit of pressure on it as if he were going to enter, but not quite. Rivaille laid there panting, his eyes glazed over with want and need. The desire inside of Eren skyrocketed. Before he completely lost his patience he slowly inserted one finger, testing his limits. He waited until Rivaille nodded, then pushed it in a little further. Once it was all the way in he thrusted that finger in and out a few times, then added the other finger and starting scissoring him.

As Eren loosened him, Rivaille closed his eyes to the strange feeling starting to overwhelm him. And yet, despite this incredible feeling, he couldn't help but think…

Sex…was a dirty thing. At this point in time they were nothing more than animals screwing each other in the midst of their heat.

They had fallen so low. They were humans, they had more decency than this. However…weren't they animals anyway?

Yes. Humans were animals. The only thing that set humans apart from being savaged animals was their advanced intelligence. Humans were weak and often times, _pitiful creatures_.

By right, titans were not the only monsters that could wipe out all of humanity. Their intellect was what helped human beings survive in this cruel world after all. It was what placed them at the top of the food chain back when their weren't any titans.

And with intelligence came many other aspects that set humans apart from wild animals. Humans have compassion, control, and dignity. It was what made them civilized.

And if any of that was striped from them, they'd be nothing more than herds of livestock, waiting to be fed to the ones at the top of the food chain. The titans.

Even still, deep down humans were still essentially just animals. They still had unholy desires that needed to be quenched. And no matter how much intelligence a human being may possess, it did nothing to stop them from succumbing to their inner beast demanding to mate.

And Rivaille was no exception to this fact.

A gasp slipped from his lips as Eren slid his fingers out of him. A moment later he felt the boy position himself at his entrance.

Eren looked at him, silently asking for permission. Hastily Rivaille nodded. He couldn't take this maddening desire boiling within him anymore.

When Eren started to slide in, he grit his teeth in discomfort. He couldn't help but wonder if this is what Eren felt every time he did this to the boy. The first thing he thought was-

Pain. Blinding and overwhelming. The second was-

Pleasure. The feeling was one of indiscernible relief-

He couldn't describe it.

It was the same as asking someone what the definition of sweet or salty was. It was just that…feeling.

Rivaille cursed at his thoughts and tightly clutched Eren's hair, the only anchor to his reality.

But did he want an anchor? Did he?

Eren thrust all the way into him, and Rivaille choked on the intense sensation. Eren had his eyes closed, brow furrowed as if this was a moment of great concentration.  
Trust the brat to look like he was in a god damn meditation at the moment.

As the coil of pleasure tightened more and more he knew he was only seconds away from unraveling into oblivion. His trembling hands clutched Eren's shoulder's in a bruising grip.

"Ah! I'm going to-"

Before Rivaille could finish, his vision blasted white as his sweet release finally hit him. And hardly a moment later Eren gasped above him, his thrust becoming more frantic and desperate before he felt the boy release inside of him. Rivaille grimaced as he felt the sticky substance coat the inside of his legs.

His moment of euphoria was gone as he slumped to the ground. "…** you."

He groaned as Eren slid out, feeling his aching **.

Eren looked at him in concern. "…Are you okay?"

Rivaille squinted up at him, eyes blurry and voice laced with irritation. "I just had a dick shoved inside my ass. What do you think?"

"Umm..." Eren couldn't think of a good reply, so he kept his mouth shut, not trusting his brain.

Rivaille sighed in what Eren hoped was a fond gesture. Maybe. Rivaille pulled Eren to him, feeling the others overwhelming, yet comforting warmth.

"You know…" he sighed. "If we ever run out of money in the winter, we could sell titans as heating lamps. A lot cheaper than using oil."

Eren looked at him indignation, then rolled his eyes and pressed himself closer to the Corporal. "I'll be your heater, and no one else's. I'm a rebel." He joked.

"Hmmm. Shut up, brat."

* * *

CREEPY CULT IS GETTING CREPPIERRRR *brings out zombie rifle and laughs manically*

Nooooo Mikasa and Armin! XD

Yeah, I know, I'm torturing them on my own..(starts singing les mis.) _Do you hear the people sing! Singing the song of angry meeennnnnnnn _

_THIS IS THE MUSIC OF THE PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT BE SLAVES AGAIINNNNNNNNNNNN _*gets knocked over the head by Mikasa*

Um…so..when I was writing the smut scene, my playlist suddenly switched to

Shota Shota Island. ..When I was writing Eren smut. WTF is wrong with my music?! I don't even remember downloading that…o.0 Anyway, thank you all so much for reading! :D I love you guys!

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews will make Eren and Rivaille-shit. I'm out of ideas.

If you review, I'll give you virtual chocolate!

:D

Sorry. I'm bribing you guys. :D

Anyway..

Please review!

(Thanks to xXLoveless19Xx for being my amazing beta!)


	17. Chapter 17

Every time that he took a step, Rivaille swore that he would kill the man who said that butt-sex felt "good." His ass was aching, he was walking bowlegged, like a fucking _penguin_, and what was worse-He'd broken the rules that he set down himself.

One rule broken. Ah, screw that. At least there was one rule which he was positive would stay.

"_Never fall in love with me." _

And even Eren wasn't stupid enough to do that. Yeah, right. Who the hell could or _would _love him anyway? He wasn't attractive in the least, and he was fucking short and scarred.

Most of the women he'd slept with in the past had been whores or hookers, but he hadn't known that. Maybe that was why he became a 'sadist', as they put it.

Eren was cheerfully walking beside him, whistling horribly off tune. "Will you fucking stop that before my ears fall off?!"

Eren stopped and looked at him. "But you don't really need ears for anything, do you?"

Good god, the brat had become cocky.

"I'll castrate you." Eren shut up then, eyes wide at the prospect of having his reproductive organs torn off. Inconspicuously, he slowly moved his hand in front of his crotch, protecting it against any harm that Rivaille could do. Not that Rivaille _could _do anything; all his blades were broken and useless. Speaking of that-his maneuver gear was severed in half, and his gas tank was bone-dry.

He had taken a few blades from Eren, leaving the other with three to defend himself.

He didn't ask for gas, because he knew that if they ever get in a fight, it would be Eren who would need it the most, but because it was Eren-

He'd probably waste all his gas screaming insults at the titan and flying around trees like a fucking squirrel. Rivaille was cursing a lot today. Must be the weather, he concluded.

It's too damn hot for any kind of sensible thinking.

"Rivaille! Rivaille! Rivaiillleeeeeeeee." Rivaille looked up to see Eren's face mere centimeters away from him. He leapt back with a curse. "What the hell, brat?!"

"Do you smell something?" Rivaille raised an eyebrow. "What kind of question-"

"Do you smell anything?!" Eren's face was slightly panicked, if not downright hysterical.

Rivaille sighed and sniffed the air, wincing as a sharp plastering smell caught his nose. "What is that?"

"I dunno.." Eren looked around warily. "It's nothing that I've ever smelled before…"

"Maybe we'll find out when we reach the end of the forest." So saying, Rivaille pushed Eren away from him.

"The end of the forest is too far away-and the smell is really strong _here_. So there must be a substance or something-"

"Well, Mr-'I can smell anything', why don't you use your bloodhound instincts and sniff out the fucking smell?" Rivaille snapped; he was thoroughly tired and cranky. Not to mention that sweat was sticking to him in uncomfortable places.

Eren looked at him, appalled. "You know that I can't-"

Rivaille glared at the boy. "Then don't complain about where the smell is if you can't even find the shitty source!"

The other was taken aback. "..Rivaille?"

"…..Let's just go." Rivaille mumbled, eyes downcast as he kicked a rock. "I'm..not feeling myself today."

Eren nodded slightly, brows furrowed as he followed the shorter ahead into the forest. Rivaille was still walking like a penguin.

**Later**

Rivaille had decided to take a break, claiming that even he was going to go insane if they didn't find some shade or a resting place. Eren definitely didn't complain; he was sweating himself.

When they sat down to eat, Eren was surprised to find a chunk of bread tossed at him. He looked up in surprise, only to see the top of Rivaille's head as he rummaged for supplies in his bag.  
"Is this for me?" Eren blinked; this portion was usually the amount he ate for a whole day.

"Shut up and just eat the dammed bread."

Was this his way of saying an apology? Eren smiled to himself; the corporal never said sorry, did he?

Suddenly, a hand came by his to snatch the food. "Hey! What-"

Rivaille tore a chunk off and stuffed the rest back in Eren's hand. "I changed my mind. There's barely any food left. We can't afford to have you stuffing your mouth."

..But that barely counted-Eren wanted to protest, but just sighed leisurely and popped a crumb in his mouth-he didn't even need to chew-that was how small it was.

They were both enjoying a moment of peaceful relaxation-

Even Rivaille had drowsed off, dropping his head into Eren's lap.

Well..it really wasn't his fault he fell asleep, Eren concluded. They'd stayed up the whole night..after all..He flushed as he thought of last nights events. That was the first time corporal had allowed him to 'take him', as he put it-even though Rivaille had put up "rules"-

But, Eren thought-

_Weren't rules made just to be broken? _

Rivaille stirred his lap, squinting at the bright light. "Ugh…so damn hot.."

"Who, me?" Eren joked, grinning. A backhand slap answered him, and he was left rubbing his bruised cheek. The corporal could hit _hard_. God-if Rivaille was ever one for hate-sex..Eren shivered. Rubbing his cheek, he crawled to their packs. "Well, I'll jus" -

Suddenly, he was flipped to the ground, Rivaille tensed above him. Eren was startled and maybe-a bit flustered. "What?!"

"Shhh!" Rivaille hissed above him, looking towards the east of the forest. There was a moaning sound-not erotic, but a moan of what seemed like desperation and insanity-Was that even possible? "I've..heard that before.." Eren murmured, surprised.

"I think we both have, brat." Rivaille slid a sword quietly out of its case, getting up off of Eren. Eren did a somersault, rolling to his feet so that his knees wouldn't crack.

"Errrruuuggghhhhh.." the lazy moan of the titan came closer, bringing with it the stench of rotting waste and spoiled meat.

_It was a normal titan. _The first one they've encountered on this 'journey' so far. They tensed, waiting for it to see them. The huge misshapen eyes flickered over the two humans, and then-

_Ignored them. _

The titan didn't try to eat, to move, to do anything. It just walked on forward to the edge of the forest, tongue lolling out in what seemed like-anticipation? For what?! Was there a whole fucking tribe of humans ahead or something?!  
"Follow it." Rivaille breathed to Eren, breaking into a run. Eren nodded and followed, taking sure not to damage his blades in any way.

The titan moved supinely fast, to their confusion, because-from what they could see, this titan wasn't a deviant. So why was it so fast to approach its destination?

One that they still didn't know, Rivaille remarked bitterly to himself. For all he knew, he could be heading towards a whole fucking _clan _of titans, and because of his stupid idea, he and Eren could get killed. Eren..he glanced at the boy from the corner of his eye. He was biting his lip in concentration, glaring solely at the titan. Sometimes, he found himself slipping, and thinking-

Strong. Fierce. Protective. Beautiful.

When he first saw Eren, he thought-Dirty. Filthy. Annoying. Weak.

Strange how all his ideals changed. His mind flickered back to the present; the titan had nearly stopped, running slower now. "Is it still not taking any notice of us?" He yelled to Eren, the boy barely heard him over the thundering footsteps. "I don't think so! But-Rivaille!" Eren was practically screaming; the noise was so loud. "We're falling behind!"

Rivaille cursed; the titans steps were too far and wide for them to catch up quickly, and they couldn't keep up this running pace for that long. "You have your 3D gear, right, Eren?!"

"What? Yeah!" Eren gritted his teeth. Rivaille moved closer to him, until they were running side by side. "When I say go, you grapple onto the titan, carrying the both of us.

"But-is the gear strong enough?"

"It'll be fine!" Rivaille snapped. "Don't question anything!"

Eren nodded shortly, glaring up at the far away neck of the titan. "Ready? Set..go!"

Rivaille gripped Eren around the waist as Eren shot the line out, feeling the distance vibrations of the hook. When there was a dull _thunk _vibration, he nodded and started reeling the line in, snapping him and Rivaille up onto the titan. Rivaille rolled off onto the shoulder, glancing up at the titan's huge ears. "Oy! Man-eater! I'm here! Free food! Are you going to eat me or not?!" The titan ignored him entirely.

"Man. And here I thought that I was special," Rivaille dryly commented as he went back to where Eren was. "Should I cut the neck?" Eren asked him, one silver point at the weak spot.

"..No." Rivaille decided. "Let's see where its going first. And besides, we are covering a lot of distance like this. It's like a free titan ride. Enjoy it while you can. We might get eaten soon."

Eren snorted. "Or there might be more titans where its going."

"You read my mind."

"Great minds think alike, don't they?" Eren grinned at him, and Rivaille raised an eyebrow.

"Does the same go for stupid ones?"

"Hey!"

"Eren..that smell you mentioned-do you smell it again?" Eren crinkled his nose; now that Rivaille'd mentioned it, he could smell it again. And the scent was stronger this time, a sharp scent that reminded him of-"Acid." He breathed, eyes wide.

"What? Don't mumble." Rivaille reprimand him.

"We're heading towards an acid pit!" Eren cried, looking at Rivaille in desperation. The other looked at the boy in bemused amusement. "So?"

"Acid burns your skin off!"

"Ah, so it does." Rivaille smiled, then instantly frowned, kicking Eren in the back-"WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS BEFORE!?"

"What?" Eren looked at him, startled and aching. Rivaille sighed as his…pains came again.

"I have a suspicion. Blades at the ready?"

Eren nodded, holding his up like a baseball bat. "Lower it, brat."

"Yes sir!" Eren gasped; he was frightened back into his old ways.

The smell was overwhelming now, heavy and sharp; it burned the inside of Rivaille's nose. He pinched it shut, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. "This has the same effect as onion."

Eren nodded, wiping excess tears from his eyes; he was faring worse than Rivaille. "We're almost there."

"Right. Now…" Rivaille twirled his blade leisurely. "Be prepared. We might sense some..shifting..here. Eren, give me your gas."

Eren obeyed without question, sliding the thin tubes from the containors and switching them with Rivaille's. Rivaille shook the tank-there was a faint swishing sound. "..How much have you used, idiot?" He sighed, breathing between his teeth.

"I'm sorry, sir!"

"Stop me with that sir, you make me feel old."

"Yes, Ma-am!"

"…..Don't even-"

The titan stopped, hurtling them forward. Screw the laws of gravity and everything physical, Rivaille cursed; he was squished under Eren.

"Get off me!" The other hastily complied, rolling off of him. "Woah…" Eren blinked, eyes wide. In front of them was a bubbling pit of gray liquid, thick and melting. The smell now was close to unbearable; Rivaille's eyes were red and he kept on sneezing.

The titan leisurely walked into the pit; gray liquid hissed as it stepped to the edge. The titan roared; Rivaille cursed-his poor ears.

As the titan became more submerged into the liquid, it started convulsing, flailing around and jerking unsteadily-Eren and Rivaille had to grip tightly onto hair to keep from falling.

"GUUWWARRRRGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

The titan _exploded_-okay, maybe not literally, but that would nice, wouldn't it?

And as Rivaille watched in disbelief and maybe a bit of smugness-his theory was correct-extra legs grew from the titan, sprouting just like a growing plant-but in fast forward motion.

The titan's skin rippled, become tougher and grayer-when Rivaille yelled in surprise and slashed the change before it could fully become an abnormal.

The titan stood still for a moment, as if in surprise, then fell forward slowly, in a dream like motion. Rivaille gripped Eren's waist and activated the gas, flying off and landing on a tree.

"…shit." Eren blinked in stunned surprise; he was still in shock. "Is…this what your theory was?"

Rivaille nodded. "You said that acid would rot away human skin-and I guessed it was because of the heat, or something like that. But then, what would titans do if they stepped through it? I guess, because there's some radiation in the air as well, that that contributed to the extra limbs, and the acid pit made the skin tougher.

"But how did the titan know where the pit was?" Eren wondered. "It couldn't have just sniffed it out, couldn't it?"

Rivaille breathed out; that was a very good question. "I don't know."

* * *

Mikasa and Armin are at McDonalds, eating big Macs. ^^ They're taking a short break, because poor Armin in traumatized….

Anyway..**can any of you guess who the titan is? EVERY TIME SOMEONE GUESSES RIGHT, I'LL ADD AN EXTRA SMUT SCENE IN THE STORYYYY **(I need an excuse to write more smut anyway.)

No, it's not a human-titan, but it has been mentioned before in this story.  
If you guess, that'll tie the story together a bit better for you. : )

I wrote another RivailleXEren oneshot..I would love if you guys checked it out! (It's really short, don't worry. XD) It's called **Happiness is overrated.**

Anyway…here's a long awaited **omake **that I've been denying…

~X~

The song **Free-Falling **does not belong to me. Rivaille is singing. (Just imagine him with a guitar and sunglasses)

"**She's a good girl, loves her mama," Rivaille sang into the microphone, eyes half closed. **

"No! Mom!" Eren pounded his fists frantically, eyes wide as the titan held up his mother to its mouth, _caressing _her head and _tearing _it off. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" He screamed in desperation as the titan opened its mouth, saliva dripping. "Mom-"

"**She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis. Loves horses and her boyfriend too" He plucked a string on his guitar, humming. **

"Oy! Brat!" Rivaille grimaced as he saw Eren in the stall, mucking out the horses. "Are you fucking done yet?"

"Almost!" Eren promised, frantically cleaning faster.

"Hurry up. After this, you're cleaning the yard with me."

Eren gave him the middle finger.

"**And I'm a bad boy, 'cause I don't even miss her. I'm a bad boy, for breaking her heart." Rivaille whistled between his teeth, flicking a speck of dust off his suit and winking. **

"Mikasa! We're going after Eren!" Rivaille yelled as he leapt by her. "Follow the female titan!"

Mikasa nodded, following after the smaller corporal.

(scene change)

"And you broke my heart into a millionnn pieceeessss!" Eren followed with a finale, pumping his arms and legs to the music. Christa smiled awkwardly, holding her violin on her shoulder. "You know that this is..classical music, right?"

"Eh?"

"Shut up brat, and stop pointing at me." Rivaille snapped; he was reading a book in his bed chamber.

"**And I'm free! Free-falling! Yeah I'm free! Free falling!" Rivaille raises his arm up into the sky, singing into the microphone. *sunglasses flash dramatically* **

Eren nodded in triumph. He was training at the castle-he had free time, and besides, why the hell not? "I did it!" He'd triumphantly scaled the castle walls, practicing his finger and leg strength. He threw his arms up in celebration, but forgot that his leg grip wasn't enough. "Eh?" He blinked as he found himself falling. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" Wind whistled by him as he twirled and balked; he was falling from a leering height.

He was too scared to turn into his titan form, and he flailed wildly as the ground came closer. He closed his eyes, bracing for impact, when-

"Brat. Did you seriously climb without maneuver gear?" Rivaille looked on in disbelief as Eren fell, himself falling leisurely by him, supported by his gear.

"Are you going to save me or not?" Eren said, voice squeaking to the point of hysterical.

"Eh. Maybe not." Rivaille swung away, leaving Eren to his point of desperation.  
"CORPORALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"

**MORAL OF THE STORY, MY DEAR CHILDREN. DON'T FREE-FALL OR JUMP FROM A CASTLE UNLESS YOU HAVE YOUR MANUVER GEAR WITH YOU. **

But seriously, every time I hear "free falling", am I the only who thinks of a man falling out of a helicopter, just calmly strumming a guitar and singing. "FREE! FREE-FALLINGGGG!" As he falls from the freaking sky?

…yeah. Just tell me how weird I am. XD

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews will make Rivaille propose to Eren.


	18. Confession

If an artist had painted the world as it was, he must've used a miniscule brush, Armin thought.

Because everything that was in such fine detail couldn't have been drawn with anything smaller.

But now, it was like the artist had switched to a round flecked one, because the world had changed, going from painstakingly detailed to random strokes of color.

But the world was still beautiful, he guessed, because it was the same artist, after all.

He drowsily blinked, flickering colors swimming in front of his eyes. "Eh?" He mumbled, eyes nodding forward. "I'm.."

Suddenly, he screamed. A frantic heat was coming from below him, and most of his clothes had already burned through. And his eyesight-it wasn't because he was having trouble focusing, but because-the heat waves had distorted everything!

"W-w" He couldn't speak for the life of him, watching the fire in terrified horror as he felt sweat rolling down his nose and forehead. _Don't struggle, _his mind frantically cautioned himself. _You'll just fall into the fire and die a quicker death that way.  
_For the first time, he heard whoops and drums. Trying to turn his head, he found that it was bound tightly against the pole of wood that he was held against, effectively cutting off any form of escape. The cult was standing around the fire in a wide circle. Some were holding leather drums, bound by rawhide and stitched white thread. There were strange patterns-or words-on them too, but that was the least of Armin's worries now.

He saw Jean clearly through the haze. (The boy was standing in front of him) His head was bowed down, in shame or mordancy he didn't know. But he clearly wasn't trying to help Armin, that was for sure.

He didn't see Mikasa with his limited vision, but knew that she was right by him, roasting in the second fire. He could feel the sparking heat and temperature close to him, and he was reminded of the day that the titans had come-when he'd lost his home,

For the second time.

"Eryat! We sacrifice this flesh to you!" The religious leader crowed, throwing his head back in ecstasy. "May you accept this sinner's soul, and purify it for the good of the people!"

Jean shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, eyes quickly scanning for any hope of escape. This guy is on crack, he thought, wincing as he heard another peel of laughter.

"For Eryat!" The priest called, beckoning his robed arm to the rest of his 'disciples'.

"For Eryat.." Jean mumbled half-heartily, staring at Armin and Mikasa.

They were roasted the way that pigs were traditionally skewered, although thankfully they had passed on the skewering idea this time.

Armin looked desperate and half-insane, eyes gazing into the fire. The flames reflected back through his pupils, dancing.

_Both of their lives are in my hands now, _Jean thought, taking a shaky breath to collect himself. He, ever since he was little-hated responsibility. That's why he hated leadership, after all. All of his group would all die-and for what reason?

Because he hadn't led them well enough. Because he was a coward. Because he just wasn't good enough to save his men. Because of him, Marco had died.

_Marco.._Jean gulped, tugging on his hood so that no one could see his face. He wasn't sure-

but before he had thought that he might've been in love with that idiot. Psh. What the hell was that?

**He wasn't worth loving, anyway. **

But now, the two lives of his comrades rested on his shoulders. He shivered, feeling the cold deadweight settle upon him. _If he didn't do anything, there would be two more lives left on his hands. _

But what the hell was there to do?! There was no way to escape. Hell, if there was a way, he would've stolen food and ran out of here a long time ago. But the cult-he glanced at the still person next to him and gulped nervously.

There had been a day of mock 'practice' battles, to determine rank and order. Jean had assumed that this would be a breeze; he was ranked 6th in his legion anyway.

But when he faced the first opponent, he'd been surprised at the strength and quickness that the other displayed; therefore getting knocked out of the running on the first try. He was rank 14th, the lowest.

But that fighting style had reminded him a lot of Annie's-he shook his head in disbelief. What was he doing, reminiscing when there was a danger right in _front _of him?!

Mikasa had been quiet, he saw. And apart from the horrifying scream that Armin had ripped, he had been silent as well.

Her hair was slowly burning off, Jean noticed, brushing that off as a side thought. What was he doing, thinking about _that, _when he should've been plotting and planning?!

Right.

A circle formation. The only way out would be up, then. Jean bit his lip in frustration. The group had confiscated their 3D maneuver gear, stashing it in the priest's tent. There was no way he could get it from there. If you disobeyed the priest-everyone who did that was dead by now.

So was there another way?

Unless he could carry them both under his arms and jump, _from the ground, _up into a tree, he didn't really have any other options. And gravity made it impossible for him to do that.

He stuck a hand into the pocket of his cloak, fingers itching for something to toy with. His hand brushed against something small and hard, and after looking around warily, he took it out of his pocket, peering to see what it was.

_A Smoke Bomb. _

Oh thank the heavens. My fucking god, Jean thought. Where have you been all my life?

He'd been holding onto the smoke bomb ever since he'd gotten 'eaten' by the titan-

And kept it, as a souvenir and memory possession, he guessed.

But now-if he went back to the Recon corps with Armin and Mikasa, there would be no need for that, would there? He could have all the smoke bombs he wanted!

He quickly etched out a plan in his mind, squinting through the heat haze. They both were still alive-good, Jean would've killed them ten times over if they died right as he had gotten a plan into shape.

Throw the bomb. Good. Step one.

Step two-…how the fuck was he going to lift the bodies? Jean cursed inwardly, looking at the huge strips of wooden bark that they were tied to. That would be a bitch to lift. If he got them free of the ropes, then he would just have to carry them, which wasn't so bad-

And Mikasa could probably carry herself, anyway. It was Armin that he was worried about. Red blotches were already appearing on the boy's skin, contrasting brightly with his normal color.

And they'd only been 'roasting' for barely ten minutes.

He was going to have to hurry if he didn't want them cooked like chickens.

A creak alerted him to a dipping willow branch, creaking from the strain of its own weight. Jean's head snapped up, face slowly morphing into a smirk.

Ah, yes. The perfect plan.

~X~

"The sulfur pit!" Eren cried joyously, jumping up and down in revelation. "That's why! We passed the sulfur pit, and-"

"For heaven's sake, _shut up_ for once, idiot!" Rivaille cursed, cupping his hands over his ears. "You're making me deaf!"

"But that sulfur pit!" Eren repeated himself, sinking down by his corporal. "That explains everything! That's how I became a titan! There was acid or radiation coming from that pit! I knew that a real sulfur pit couldn't smell _that _bad! And that's why there was a titan near that, too! It must've finished changing!" Rivaille winced and pushed the boy away; Eren'd inched closer to his face while they were talking. "Personal space, dipshit. Hadn't anyone taught you that before?"

Eren ignored him, still basking in the glory of his newfound glory.

"Look, brat. I know that we've-"

"I still can't believe that I've-"

"And I think that we-"

"It's amazing now-"

"There's been something-"

"I understand now! The blindfold* was ripped from my eyes!" Eren cried dramatically, pausing for added effect.

Rivaille was seething, gritting his teeth in frustration. "I said, I _think _that we're going in fucking circles."

Eren paused for a moment, staring at him. "Eh?"

Rivaille pointed to a sharp rock that they'd passed before. "I've seen that fucking rock so many times now, I have half a mind about taking it home and naming it Jared."

"Well, why not Jaegar-"

"The point is," Rivaille smoothly cut him off. "We're lost. Because you and your fucking misleading sense of direction is making us loose the way."

"Well, I'm-"

"Point settled." Rivaille raised his arm in the universal 'halt' sign. "We're going in circles, so I'm leading this time. I know this forest better then you, anyway. In fact, you know what?"

Eren shook his head in slight terror; the other was becoming scary.

"I'm fucking tired, you're tired, we've been walking in circles, we both need a bath, the sun's going down, so why don't we find a place and stop for now?"

Eren blinked his eyes, not believing his ears. "..You're growing soft, aren't you?" He murmured, eyes lighting up.

Rivaille scowled. "In what fucking way am I 'softing up?' I think you felt that the day before yesterday."

Eren flushed colorfully at the mental image and shook his head. "Fine, fine."

**Later..**

Eren sighed in content as he took the last bite of his pig. Rivaille had chanced upon one when they were walking to the stream, tripping over it and swearing every curse word under the rainbow. Eren, thankfully, had the mind to attack and impale the pig with his blade, effectively catching them dinner. (The pig had fallen into a tree and knocked down some fruits too, which they were saving for dessert)

Both of them had barely had any meat in the past weeks, so they dug in once the pig was roasted, hungrily tearing off strips of flesh. Once Eren's stomach had stopped growling, he slowed down for a bit, chewing slower now. Rivaille was eating like he always did, clean and quick. Eren watched in disbelief as he stripped the leg he was holding into four blocks, wrapping them in one of his precious tissues. "What are you doing to do with that?" Eren mumbled around a mouthful of meat.

"Saving it, brat. We still have quite a while to go."

Speaking of which, _Where were they going? _At first, Rivaille's goal had seemed to be just getting away from the camp, but where were they going now? The ocean?

Eren's body shivered excitedly at the prospect. Almost all the pig was gone already, and Eren stared mournfully at his last piece. "Sometimes..I wonder if we ever look to them like titans do to us.." he muttered.

Rivaille, who was also on his last piece, stared at him in deadpanned shock. "What?"

"I mean-" Eren flailed his arms around as he was explaining-(Rivaille had to catch his right arm or else his food would've went flying) "We're huge compared to them, right? So-I wonder if they feel panic like we do whenever we see the titans."

Rivaille was silent for awhile. "We don't mean it for evil intentions, though." He finally said.

"We _need _food to survive. Titans live off fucking sunlight. I think we're good."

"but we could just take the choice of going vegetarian, right?" Eren twirled his pork chop around. "We don't _have _to eat meat, right?"

Rivaille grunted. "Soon you'll be saying that we shouldn't eat plants either, because they're fucking _alive_ or some shit like that."

"Well-"

"you know what? Forget it." Rivaille threw up his hands. "Just shut up and eat your pig."

Eren stuck out his tongue at him, cockily swallowing his last bit. "Done!" He sang cheerfully, pulling out the fruits that they'd found before. Well, technically the pig had found them.

Rivaille squinted at the yellow one that Eren passed to him, frowning. "What is this?"

Eren hummed. "I think that it's papaya. Sasha said something about it once..apparently it's really sweet."  
Rivaille shivered. "I don't like sweet things."

"Try it, at least!" Eren slowly eased open the crack in the papaya that he'd made in his sword. He handed half of the yellow fruit to Rivaille, who took it with a look of disdain.

Eren bit into it, relishing the juice that ran down his throat. "It's really good! Try some!"

Rivaille grunted, then took a tiny bite of it. Eren waited for a reaction as he swallowed. And as no reaction was forthcoming, he frowned. "How was it?"

Rivaille took another bite, holding up his hand in the-_wait, I'm eating. And it's impolite and just plain nasty to show people the food that you're chewing. So just waiting a fucking moment, okay?! _

When Rivaille was done, he grimaced. "It's messy." Sure enough, some yellow juice had dripped onto his cravat. He gingerly took it off, folding it and putting it back in his bag. "We'll stop and find a water source tomorrow. Until then, we'll-hey! What the fuck?!"

Eren had smeared papaya juice on Rivaille's forehead, laughing as the other glared at him. "You look-look-" Eren choked, doubling over as Rivaille gave him a swift punch in the stomach. What he was not expecting was the corporal to squish his own papaya into his face, smothering it with sticky yellow gloop. He cried-"unfair!" and threw his own papaya at Rivaille's smirking expression.

Soon the papaya fight led to something else, and he found himself naked in Rivaille's arms, drowsily soaking in the others warmth.

Rivaille was warm and comforting, something that Eren'd been looking for, for so damned long.

Rivaille ran a lazy finger through Eren's hair, wincing as he felt the stickiness of it. Yep. The brat was definitely washing tomorrow.

"…you.." The boy mumbled, shifting closer.

"You what?' Rivaille snapped, he didn't like it when people were too quiet.

"I love you…"

Rivaille got up hastily, knocking Eren away from him. The other yelped as he hit the ground and he got exposed to the cold. "What the fuck-"

"Hey, Eren.." Rivaille asked interrupted cautiously; maybe the statement was because of Eren's crazy sleeping mind. Maybe he was thinking of his mom or Mikasa.

"Yeah?"

"Do you..love me?" Rivaille asked hesitantly, wishing that he weren't naked; this situation was very awkward.

Eren blinked for a moment, then burst out laughing. "What're you talking about?"

Rivaille breathed a sigh of relief; it had been a joke after all.

Until Eren said-"Of course I love you."

* * *

Ohhhh cliffie guys! :D I'm not going to say much, cuz my life is really boring..so..yeah!

How will Rivaille react? Dun Dun Dun!

*So..I'm staring a new story called "land of the blindfolded"..it's another RivailleXEren one, don't worry. XD But I would love to get your feedback..so..I would be very grateful if you checked it out! Thankss!

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews are equal to the speed that I type. More reviews, faster chapter!

It's all because of your lovely motivation. ^^


	19. Chapter 19

For a moment, Rivaille was stunned beyond words. He blinked in surprise, eyes flashing. "….You.."

Eren looked at his downcast face, reaching out a hand to him; he was slightly worried. "..Rivaille?" A hand smacked his away furiously, and Eren was sent reeling a few steps back, staggering over a log. "…get out."

Eren looked at him in surprise, mouth half-open. "what?"

Rivaille's head snapped up, teeth gritted together. "Get out!" he screamed, pointing a finger to the edge of the forest. "That's disgusting! Fucking _disgusting!_ What the hell?! We're fuck buddies, nothing else!" He laughed bitterly. "And you know-the only reason I brought you on this trip was to use you."

Eren blinked-"But-"

"Get out! _I never want to see you in my sight again!" _

Eren looked downcast, his eyes mindlessly skimming the ground, trees; anywhere but Rivaille's scornful gaze. "..I'll-"

"Fucking brat. What did I do to make you think that I could reciprocate, anyhow?"

"..Be by the river." Eren mumbled the last words, turning around to walk through the foliage.

Even though he knew that it was probably his own hopeful hope, he turned slightly to see if Rivaille was following him, stopping him, doing _anything_. The other was sitting on the log now, hands clasped together. Eren left quietly, walking quickly through the abandoned vines. Rejection had hurt more than he thought, he admitted. Besides..who would love a monster like him? He wasn't fully human; nor was he a titan. Right. He shouldn't blame Rivaille, the other had done what any natural human would've done. It wasn't his fault.

_Because he didn't deserve to be loved, after all. _

Eren reached the stream, sitting down and dipping his feet in the water. The current was particularly strong today, he noticed, gazing up at the beginning lights of dawn. Suddenly, he wanted anything, something, to distract his mind his mind from what just happened.

He quickly tore off his shirt and pants, throwing them caressly among the bank, thinking impishly to himself-Rivaille would've had a fit if he was there-and threw himself in the river, gasping as the icy cold hit him. He, at first, let himself sink back for a moment, hair swirling in the icy river, when-the current rammed him into a boulder. He winced and pushed himself back, but his foot slipped on a patch of clustered moss, and he fell under, the water taking him.

~X~

"_Rivaille. When you love someone, you have to treasure them above anything else." His mother stood there in the sunlit kitchen, wagging a finger at him disapprovingly. _

"_Is that why you put up with dad and his crazy projects?" Rivaille asked, eyes wide with sparkling curiosity. _

_His mother laughed, throwing her head back. "Yes, I suppose so." _

"_But how do you know-when you love someone?" His mother paused for a moment, thinking. _

"_Well..you start to think of them above anything else, and their safety is worth more to you than anything else." _

"_So basically, someone you care for-even more then yourself?' _

"_Basically, yes." His mother smiled lovingly at him again, petting his hair. "Now, why don't we finish shelling the peas? Your father will be home soon." _

Rivaille put his hands onto his face, trembling slightly. Eren…

"_Oy, brats. Want to explain what's going on here?" He had seen a bruised looking boy staring at him, eyes wide in only what could seem like wonder. _

Those eyes ensnared him, he admitted to himself. They shone with an unearthly brilliance-beautiful and full of _expression_.

He had blocked out all emotion when his father had died, thinking that the best way to be successful was just to go along in life, doing everything that was asked of you.

_But if you just eat and sleep, doesn't that basically mean that you're not living at all?  
_He cursed. "Dammit!" He hadn't meant to send Eren away, but in his panic and surprise, he had thought of nothing else but being along at that moment.

_I used to think that I didn't need anyone. _Yes, Rivaille could be alone; that was what made him the strongest, after all.

_I used to think that I could be complete, alone. _What other choice did he have? He was alone, from the very beginning.

Trying to shut his eyes to the frozen shards in his heart-would he become blind from not seeing?

_But-I was lonely. _

_I was sad. _He sank back down again, perfect posture slipping.

_I wanted to try, even once-_

_what it felt like, what love was._ Maybe, inside of him, he was human after all.

_I was always by myself, watching from an overreaching balcony as society passed by._

_I swore that I would be complete alone, _

_But my body refused to accept that fact. _His mind was supposed to be stronger than his body. But he'd give in to the selfish desire of human lust instead.

_The sunset that I saw was stunning, that's for certain, _

_but to call it love, _

_would be a disgrace, wouldn't it?_ There were so many definitions of love in the world-love for a thing, love for a pet, love for a friend, and love for a lover. Maybe he needed a dictionary. But he couldn't buy it anywhere, that was for sure.

_I've always wanted to tell a special person,_

_who've I've been gasping for on that painfully cold winter night-_

_huddled up like that- _

_"I'll never go back to that cold world again." _The world was too dirty for anyone to truly love and appreciate. It was a living hell.

_And, sometimes, sitting on the window rail, _

_I wonder. _

_Is love warm? _

_Is love bitter? _

_Stunning? _

_Is it beautiful-_

_or is it different for every heart? _Even the romance novels that Hanji had forced him to read were no help. They described perfect and essential lovers; and that was never reality, no matter how you looked at it. He would never get to experience the taste of love-it was something out of his desperate reach.

_"And, _

_let's go exploring. _

_If it rains, let's play a game." _Such times were meant to go on forever, really.

_But-_

_to be honest, I am scared of love. _

_That frightening concept of brutal heartbreak and _

_dangerous happiness,_

_do I deserve such things? _Rivaille buried his face into his hands again, tearing at his scalp with trembling fingers. Of all the things he'd done-he didn't deserve that emotional feeling. He didn't deserve to feel happiness, because of all his sins that he'd committed. And he accepted those sins, thinking that there was no other way out.

_When my heart finally stops beating-_

_I want to leave, _

_knowing that I was truly happy. _That was his only selfish wish. But he had never wished for it, on a candle, or a shooting star, because he already knew that it was hopeless.

_Until the time I can no longer be myself _

_I wonder just how many times I can still say "I love you" and not cry. _

_So let me be grateful for the fact that I can be here-_

_Thank you, simply for the fact that I'm alive. _He had lived. And that was enough for now. He had never said the words-"I love you," since his mother.

_With no one here, will the world wither? _

_Who is left-_

_Will they say the world's final confession?_

_And I wonder, _

_when I meet the destined person, will I know? _

_I guess, to make sure, I won't let go of anyone. _He had tried his best to pull through everything with a 'iron' heart, but people would die and go. You couldn't change fate or death. It was already something set in stone.

_I've always wished for spring. _

_Because I was so afraid of that cold world, covered in white-_

_I curled up in a tight ball, _

_huddled against the raging sleet, _

_I never took a good look at it. _

_The soft snowflakes falling silently, _

The desolate forest that was as hysterical as a broken mind,

But you have a special person to share it with,

He thought-

This white world can be inexpressibly beautiful.

I can't let go of Eren, he realized. He may not be my-_lover_, but we're still friends, to the best of our ability.

"_I'll be by the stream." _He got up unsteadily, staggering slightly from the abrupt switch in gravity. Walking forward, for the first time-without a steady purpose, he felt strangely exalted, as if he was seeing the world for the first time. Dawn broke through the light of the trees, the tinny chirping of the birds trilled in his ear, and all the individual, tiny pieces of grass-each shined with a different light of the sun. The stream was fast-flowing, shining and shimmering in the warped sunlight upon its surface. But he didn't see Eren anywhere. He swept his eyes around, searching for him. He saw his clothes by the bank, sprawled everywhere, and he cursed under his breath. Trust the brat to go swimming; he was Eren, after all. "Oy! Fucker!"

There was no reply, but suddenly he saw a thin hand from further down the stream, waving frantically. He felt a slash of inexpressible panic, and without thinking, stripped hastily and jumped in the river, wincing at the cold current. He swam towards the flailing boy, yelling,. "Eren!"

_This isn't so bad after all, _Eren thought, dreamily floating through the half-frozen water. _Maybe I'll die and see mom again, and Thomas, and Marco, and everyone in the Recon corps who died…_

_If I even deserve to be in the same place of them, I guess. _

In that moment, he'd given up. He let his hand sink back into the water, already numb and unfeeling from the cold. Everything was black. And he wondered unseemly, _why is everything in the world black? Can't there be white instead?_ Until-"Eren!" A hand gripped his wrist, tugging him back to reality.

_What? _"Eren! Can you hear me?" A pair of warm hands were on his face, frantically trying to get it to warm up.

_Mikasa? Armin? _"Eren! Breathe, dammit!" A pair of lips was then on his own, blowing into them, trying to get air into his lungs. _Hey, don't do that…what's the point? I'm going to die anyway. No use fretting over me. _

"Don't give up, idiot! There are people in the world who need you! I-I need you, goddammit!"

…_Rivaille? _He peeked open his eyes an inch to see the blurry figure crouching over him. "R-R-Rivaille-" A hand clasped his firmly, and he opened his eyes a bit wider to see Rivaille pressing his hair against his hand, head bowed. "I love you, I love you, I'm sorry-I was an idiot. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, oh god-"

"Rivaille.." Eren looked in surprise at the corporal, he-he-he couldn't say the words for the life of him. "I-I love you-"

"I know already; shut up brat." Rivaille kissed him, hard, and Eren responded back eagerly, winding his arms around the others neck.

When he'd found Eren drowning in the river, Rivaille had thrown his clothes and dignity away; he'd only thought of saving the boy. _"Love is when you treasure a person above everything else." _

He'd thrown away his morals, he'd thrown away his care for himself, he'd thrown away _everything_-just thinking of saving a boy. And in that staggering moment, he realized.

_I love Eren. _He felt like a shell was breaking apart-yes, somehow, Eren'd broken through his walls that he'd set up for himself. Broken through them, like the titan he was.

"I love him.." He'd whispered, sometimes thinking that it was merely for the sake of saying it.

"I love him." Or maybe it was because he was true.

He'd loved him all along.

And now, as he felt the boy along his length, he knew that it wasn't lust. It was love. Furious, undying, possessive love. Love was bitter for him. He could finally taste the forbidden fruit. He wouldn't say that he enjoyed the taste, but all the same, so many things in this world was overrated. And that was the way that he liked it.

"You know, you really smell, brat. You should take a bath." Eren protested, but Rivaille was firm about it, throwing him in the river. Eren'd smirked and pulled him in too, and they wound up having a furious water fight, each seeing who would win.

Was this love?

_It was most definitely. Beautiful, devastating, hysterical,_

_**Love. **_

* * *

Whew! You guys don't know how long I've been waiting to get to this point of the story-it's been so long….Rivaille just had to be himself, and deny it over and over again..Tsudere..coughcough.

Oh yeah..I started writing _another _RivailleXEren fanfic…^^ SORRY I HAD A REALLY GOOD IDEA! ..but I'm actually really proud of that one..I would actually recommend it myself to check it out..it's called _The game of Love_.Thanks if you do!

But..yeah. Mikasa and Armin are at hamburger king, and they've dragged Jean along with them..so he'll be shown in the next chapter!

Please review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter!


	20. Chapter 20

Armin sighed. _I lived a content life, I guess. _The flames crackled higher. A few had reached his hair now, and was slowly blacking the ends. _But now, I'll get to see mom, dad, and grandpa again.._

_Thank you. _

_Thank you, for everything. _

_I'm sorry, Eren. Sorry we couldn't save you. _

Suddenly, there was a snapping _crack _sound. He tried to turn his head to find out what was going on, but his bonds were still restraining him.

There was a squelching sound that sounded suspiciously like a eye being jammed in.

A scream of terror, and a man was sent reeling into the fire. Armin yelped as the cloaked body fell in the flames.

_It was the same person that fed them. _The body convulsed and withered, and finally, crumbled in the fire.

Armin wasn't sure how humans burned-but surely they couldn't burn _that _fast, right?

He looked in shock at Mikasa, who had heard the commotion and was likewise struggling.

"Armin! Mikasa!" Jean grimaced; the cult was converging on him again. The branch that he held in his hand was stained with dark blood-dripping a little at the tip.

"When I say go, turn over!"

"We can't!" Armin snapped. "We're bound and tied!"

"Flip your bloody selves over ! You have no other choice!"

Armin was about to say something, but Mikasa interjected. "Okay."

He gaped at her; she was agreeing with him?!

"It's a quicker way, okay?" Mikasa started turning, kicking with her legs. That didn't do much, but at least she was _moving_.

Armin gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. _The fastest way…_he rubbed against his containments, trying to get them looser. There was no give-until he kicked up the tempo, rope burning his wrists in the process. The vine half-slackened. Armin stopped moving in shock, feeling his looser wrists.

"..No. _No_."  
"Armin, what's wrong?" Mikasa was still trying to flip over, but the ropes still wouldn't loosen.

"I think..this vine reacts to blood." He whispered hoarsely, eyes wide. "It..slackened when I got injured.."

she looked at him. "Is that possible?"

He nodded. "I've heard of flesh-eating plants in my grandfather's book-but I never really believed them..until now." He added.

Mikasa sighed. "I hope you're right." With that, she harshly dug her fingernails in her wrist, sinking them deep enough so that blood would trickle out.

The moment her blood hit the vines, they withered, soaking them up instantly. The vines went slack for Mikasa too. She stopped moving one moment, eyes widening in what seemed like horror.

"This world.."

"This is not the time to think about that now!" Armin snapped. She looked at him in surprise; Armin didn't snap. He was calm and rational.

"Go!" Jean screamed from across the clearing. With their slackened bonds, Mikasa and Armin could easily turn, placing themselves on top of the charred wood. Armin breathed a moment of cold air; until a cloud of smoke filled the air. He found himself coughing and hacking.

A arm grabbed him around the waist, and he was slung into a chest. Jean had picked them up and carried them. "God, you guys are _heavy_."

"Excuse us for not starving to death!" Armin snapped. "Be grateful we don't weight nothing!"

Jean looked down at him in surprise. "..I'm sorry, okay, Armin? Calm down!"

"Calm down? _Calm down?!_" Armin's voice was rising in hysterics. Jean gritted his teeth. _Well, that was the wrong thing to say. _He spotted a horse by the stables. "not now, Armin. You can hit me whenever you want later."

Armin was about to protest, but Mikasa shot him a sharp look, telling him to be quiet. Jean picked up his pace; the rest of the cult was recovering and starting to go after them. He slung them both on the horse and ran back to the stables, unhooking the chain of every horse that was in there. Leading two horses; a white and brown flecked one, he sprinted back, hoisting himself on the spotted one. "Armin, get on the white horse!" Armin nodded, frantically repositioning himself on the other animal.

When they were both strapped and ready to go, Jean gave a sigh. "You'll have to ride bareback. I didn't have time to get the saddles."

"We don't have any more time! Just go!", Armin snapped viscously.

Jean looked hurt for a moment, then curtly nodded and reined his horse, staring them off in a gallop. The other horses followed. Armin bounced up and down on his mount before getting the hang of it. He crouched down and patted the neck softly, murmuring his thanks in the pleated ear. The horse nickered, and sniffed his hand, possibly looking for food. Armin laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, I don't have any food on me right now." The horse huffed and ruffled its head, the mane splaying Armin in his face. The boy laughed, scratching it behind the neck. Unknown to him, Jean was staring at them with a strange expression on his face.

When he noticed Mikasa staring at him, he flushed. "What?"

She looked sideways at Jean. "Nothing."

"It wouldn't be nothing if you were staring at me like, would it?" He was painfully reminded of his past crush on her.

"It's nothing." She spurred her horse on, riding alongside him now. "Where are we going?"

"Where do you want to go?" Jean shrugged. "All I'm doing now is shaking them off. Every horse in the stables were released, so that'll gain us some time."

"What is the cult, anyway?"

"They're a group of people-"

"yes, I think that I've already gotten that information."

Jean sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Well, they…believe that blood is the strongest way of connection to Eryat."

"And?"

"They…consume flesh to..'gain' ungodly powers.." Jean worded his words carefully, not wanting to offend the girl.

"So they eat humans?"

"Of their sacrifices, yes. But among themselves, they..'sacrifice' a part of their flesh. It's a coming of age ritual, I guess. You have to prove your pain limit by chopping a part of yourself off, then watching others feast on it."

"Did you do it?" Armin's quiet voice took them by surprise.  
Jean looked up at the sky; it was becoming cloudy. "..No."

"No, by you didn't do it, or you didn't want to?"

Jean laughed bitterly. "If I didn't _want_ to, they would've kicked me out and killed me. No,"

He looked down. "my coming of age ritual was actually supposed to be tomorrow. I've had plans for escape for a while now. Ah, look. A forest!" He pointed ahead; sure enough, there was a patch of lush green land.

Armin looked down at his horse, disregarding his comment."..How?"

"How what?"

"How did you..survive?" Armin struggled to get the words out. "Because you didn't die and come back to life, right?"

Jean looked on ahead. "..I'll explain more when we stop."

"I'm curious too." Mikasa claimed, reining her horse in. "Let's stop at a clearing."

Jean sighed. "You guys are never going to give that up, are you?"

"We have a right to know!" Armin snapped. "we don't know if we're traveling with a dead person or not! Or for all we _don't_ know, you could be an imposter for all that!"

"I'm not an imposter, nor am I dead." Jean claimed.

"so you say." Armin scoffed.

"Didn't that commander man say-the one that was trying to kill Eren-" Mikasa explained to them, "That no man can never prove that he's not the devil?"

Jean raised one of his hands in mock parody. "Woah, woah. Don't try to burn me at stake here."

"Like we could ever get one." His tone was stern, but Armin allowed himself a small laugh at Jean's comment.

~X~

"Oy! Stop staring at me, brat! You're creeping me out!" Rivaille snapped at Eren, who'd been gazing intently at him all day.

"You're mine now! Eren pounced on the smaller figure, enfolding him in his arms. Rivaille scowled. "Stupid abnormal brat-have you fucking grown again?!"

"I don't know.." Eren placed his chin on top of his head. "Men are supposed to grow until they're thirty."

"…poppycock."

"You made that word up, didn't you?"

"Never mind that." Rivaille sighed, pushing Eren away. "But for your information, we have another mountain. And this one isn't pretty."

As if heeding his words, a roar came from underground, making Eren yelp and scatter. "Is there a titan underneath us?"

"No..but-" Rivaille pointed at the mountain. "It's coming from there."

As Eren watched, a small stream of red liquid shot out from the top of the mountain, spurting for a while, before falling back down within itself. "…Liquid fire.." he murmured, eyes shivering in awe. "Armin..I've seen it..I've seen snowfields of sand-and now-_liquid _fire.."

Rivaille looked at him for a moment, then back at the lava. "..you find that shit beautiful?"

Eren looked at him in surprise. "It's nature. All nature is beautiful, Rivaille. You just have to..appreciate the fact that some things just aren't made by humans."

Rivaille snorted. "When did I ever say I liked the crap made by humans anyway?"

Eren laughed. "True, true." He hugged Rivaille again. "How are we going to get across the mountain? There's a gaping hole at the top."

Rivaille put a hand on Eren's arm, half-heartily trying to push the other off. "We could try climbing around it-I'm sure the hole's not that big-or, you could carry us across the lava."

"Eh? But I would get-"

Rivaille waved a hand aimlessly. "You would regenerate anyway, right?"

Eren scoffed. "Right, but you never know! That one time I carried the rock-I didn't regenerate!"

Rivaille hummed. "Then I'll just have a lover with no arms."

"hey! What pleasure is there in that?"

"Kinky pleasure." Rivaille brushed closer to him.

"..Are you seducing me?" Eren deadpanned.

Rivaille scowled. "Seducing sounds dirty." He continued walking. "Let's go, brat. Besides, I'm sure that people are following us-the question is.." he bit his lip in thought. "Why haven't they caught up to us yet?"

Eren shrugged. "Maybe they're not following us?"

Rivaille laughed. "You and the other two-the legendary 'golden trio', Mikasa and Armin would never stop looking for you. But my guess is that Hanji stayed back at the base, which is good-that woman pokes her nose into everything."

"Oh, did you know?" Eren put a hand to his chin. "When I first saw you, I thought that you and Hanji were lovers.."

Rivaille spluttered. "What the fuck?"

"Or Petra and you.."

"The hell?!"

"or Irvin. You seemed pretty chummy with him."

"MOTHERFUCKER-"

Eren ran for the hills.

Rivaille chased after him, screaming cuss words all the while. Eren stored a few into his vocabulary for later.

* * *

SORRY GUYS THIS CHAPTER IS REALLY SHORT..

I MAY BE ENTERING WRITERS BLOCK. *shout of horror*

So..PLEASE!

IF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY GOOD IDEAS-PLEASE TELL ME! QAQ

I think it's because Eren confessing to Rivaille was the climax..and now, it's going doowwnnn

...but I will go down with this ship TT^TT  
But mainly I think it's because I'm working on The Game of Love so much…but god, I really like writing that story…HIGHSCHOOL AU FUCK YEAH! RivailleXEren..ah..my feels when writing that story…*eyes tremble*

Anyway..

Good ideas are much appreciated!

K.K

ReviewReviewReview


	21. Chapter 21

The mountain was looming closer. Eren squinted his eyes from the sun, wincing as he felt a wave of heat. "There aren't any titans here, are they?"

Rivaille scowled. "Don't look at me like I'm the fucking encyclopedia!"

"What?" Eren protested, throwing his hands up. "I'm being cautious!"

Rivaille sighed. "Titans, idiot, are not _mice_. We can hear them coming from a freaking mile away! If there were any, we would know. And here. We're almost at the mountain."

Eren looked suspiciously at the rock. "Will this really hold our weight?"

"Why not?" Rivaille grumbled, "This is a freaking _mountain._"

"But-there's this weird thing on here-"

"Forget it, brat! We'll get going sooner if you stop talking!"

Eren sighed and followed after the corporal. "Hey, Rivaille." He asked as they were almost done climbing. "Where are we going, anyway?"

Rivaille paused, looking at him in surprise. "You don't know where we're going?"

Eren shook his head.

Rivaille snorted. "Well, of course we're going-" He stopped. "..Where the hell are we going?"

Rivaille paused, loosening his grip on the rock. "Where are we going?" He repeated to himself, eyes wide. "Where the fuck are we going?"

"Are we going to travel forever?" Eren asked him quietly, climbing up to his side.

"No, of course not.." Rivaille laughed uneasily. "We're going to..the ocean! Right!"

Eren bit his lip. "But..what's going to happen..after we reach the ocean?"

Rivaille opened his mouth to respond, but closed it after a while. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Maybe..we could sail _across _the ocean?" Eren whispered in his quietest voice, looking up at Rivaille to see if he heard. The other had kept on climbing; he hadn't heard Eren.

Eren sighed and followed him, wincing as ash and dust fell from Rivaille's boots.

As they got closer to the top of the 'mountain', the faint humming roar grew louder and louder.

"…thanks…not…than..other!"

"What?!" Eren screamed; he couldn't make out what Rivaille was saying. The tumor below him seemed to suck in sound waves, making everything harder to hear.

"THANK GOD THAT THIS MOUNTAIN IS SMALLER THAN THE OTHER ONE!"

Rivaille yelled, screwing his eyes shut against the sun. It was on its way down the sky now, so the heat rays were even closer to them.

"RIGHT!" Eren coughed; his throat had become sore from the volume. "WILL WE HAVE TO YELL LIKE THIS THIS WHOLE TIME?!"

"I don't fucking know!" Rivaille muttered.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW! HOW ABOUT, YOU AND I STAY TOGETHER, SO WE DON'T HAVE TO YELL, OKAY?!"

"…THAT IS ACTUALLY A REALLY GOOD IDEA!" Eren hurriedly tried to climb up to where Rivaille was. The other sighed impatiently as he waited for him, and Eren could hear him muttering things like-slow-ass brat, I could've jacked off by now, killed a titan, ordered Hanji's execution, and others that Eren was too scared to mention.

"Hey, Hey!" Eren panted as he finally caught up to Rivaille, collapsing by the other. "Should we tie ourselves together?"

Rivaille snorted. "Why?"

"So that we don't have to get separated!" Eren protested, already reaching for his bag, when-

"Did you forget, brat? I used up all the rope trying to restrain you." Rivaille grumbled.

"…Ah. That sounds kinky-" Rivaille kneed him in the stomach.

"Hey!" Eren coughed. "I thought that the purpose of this was to make sure that I didn't die!"

Rivaille shrugged. "I changed my mind. Killing you would be easier."

Eren laughed. "You're just joking, aren't-" He whimpered. "Aren't you?"

Rivaille rolled his eyes and started climbing again. "yeah, yeah."

Eren climbed after him quickly. "Hey! Wait up!"

Suddenly, his foot bumped against something hard. "Shit-"

Rivaille whipped back around to look at him. "What happened?"

Eren winced, rubbing his foot. "My foot bumped into something.."

Rivaille raised his eyebrows. "That's it? I thought a titan bit you or something, judging on that scream."

"it wasn't that loud!"

"Yes, it was." Eren gave up on any effort to reply. He knelt down-(the best he could on a sloped surface) and brushed aside the ashes, eyes widening as his fingers scraped against a hard edge. He frantically started digging, not caring if his fingernails got chipped. Now Rivaille was by his side, helping him. When they'd finally dug the box-actually, it was more like a _trunk_. It had four locks along the edges, each a different size and shape.

Eren hissed as he looked at it. "well, we're fucked."

Rivaille rolled his eyes. "Haven't you ever heard of _lockpicking_?"

When Eren was about to protest-say that it was a horrible sport for the weak or something-Rivaille stopped him. "It can come really handy later in life, you know." He cursed as he dug into his pants pocket for his lockpick, feeling little grits of dirt around the inside lining.

He came up with a thin steel rod, examining it and holding it up to the light. "..This'll do."

He knelt down and brushed the dirt away from the locks, blowing the little grinds that refused to go. Taking the first lock-which for some reason, was clover shaped-he started picking at it, jabbing and twisting it from different angles. After a few minutes, the lock broke open with a faint _click _sound. Rivaille sighed as he saw the other three that were waiting for him. "Is this even worth it?"

Eren nudged him gently. "You never know! It could be..buried treasure, or-maybe even gold! Who knows, there could be a secret titan killing recipe in there!"

"..Recipe?" Rivaille deadpanned, and Eren flushed. "Forget it."

Rivaille chuckled lightly as he fingered the next lock. Eren wrapped his arms around the other man's neck, rocking him gently in a back and forth motion. "Hey," He asked after a while. "This is okay, right?"

Rivaille looked up at him-curse the brat for being so dammed tall-"..I won't ever finish opening this fucking trunk if you keep on doing that." When Eren quickly released him with a teasing-"go on", Rivaille would never admit it, but he missed the warmth of the human-titan.

Brushing the next lock, which was a queer diamond shape, he had it open in seconds.

And the next was a beautiful flower-

And the last was quill shaped, which puzzled Rivaille to no end. "Who the fuck would get a quill shaped lock?"

Eren looked over his shoulder. "Maybe it was a scholar who did this! A scholar who-um, studied titans! Yeah!"

Rivaille snorted. "In your dreams, brat."

Eren laughed. "No, I dream about other things at night." His hot breath tickled Rivaille's ear.

"Do you honestly want to do it on a mountain?" Rivaille asked him in disbelief, raising an eyebrow.

Eren flushed. "N-No..of course not." Rivaille just rolled his eyes and flicked open the quill lock.

Eren jumped in anticipation as Rivaille started undoing the hinges, wincing at the rust that flickered off in copper strips.

Eren's eyes widened in shock as he saw the name embossed on the inside of the trunk. In shining gold letters, it proclaimed-

**Grisha Jaegar **

~X~

Armin sighed as he dismounted from his horse, wincing as his leg joints creaked; he'd definitely been riding for too long. As Jean and Mikasa got down easily, Armin looked at them with jealously-how could they make it look so easy?

Jean unpacked a few bags from the saddlestraps, taking out some food and a canister of water. After taking a few sips, he handed it to Mikasa, who took it gingerly.

"There's some food.." Jean mumbled to Armin, pulling a crumpled bag from the saddle.

He handed it to him, and Armin looked at the bag with distaste, smacking it away. "Talk," he demanded.

"I-" Jean stuttered, throwing his hands up.

"You promised." Armin hissed.

"Right…" Jean exhaled, sitting down on the grass beside Armin. Mikasa went over to them, closing the cap on the water canister.

"The titan..that you saw."

"What about it?" Armin pressed, shifting closer. Jean looked awkwardly at the space in between them.

"Titans..throw up, right? Because..they have no digestive organs." Jean finally got out.

"Right." Mikasa nodded, closing her eyes.

"I was swallowed whole."

Armin gulped, clutching his 3D maneuver belt.

Jean opened and clutched at his empty hands. "There was a knife that I had..more of a blade, actually, that..Marco gave to me." He breathed out.

"As I slipped down the throat, I used that knife to press against the lining of the.." Jean groped for words, snapping the grass with trembling hands.

"We all have a uvula, that thing in the back of the throat.." Jean pointed aimlessly to his mouth.

"It stimulates the gag reflex!" Armin breathed in realization.

"That's how.." Mikasa made a strange hand motion. "You got thrown up."

"Basically, yeah." Jean tried to smile. "the vomit dries really quickly, so I got..stuck, per say." He laughed sheepishly. "And then the cult passed by, and they thought that I got 'born' from a titan, I guess." He shrugged. "I was crucified!"

Armin let out a shaky laugh. "..Right.."

Mikasa stared at Jean for awhile. "You..are actually quite smart." She finally admitted, allowing herself a small smile. Jean looked at her in surprise, and then a light blush colored his cheeks. "T-Thanks."

Armin was looking at Jean when a pang of _something _stabbed his chest. He blinked in surprise and clutched his chest; the feeling kept overlaying and multiplying. _What is this? Am I going mad? _  
"Eh? Armin? Armin? Are you alright?" A soft voice asked. An hand shook his arm carefully.

"Don't touch me!" He snapped, knocking it away. He saw the hurt face of Mikasa before him, eyes trembling in shock. _Ah..that's right._ His pupils widened in realization. _That's the same thing that Eren would always do..when Mikasa tried to make him feel better. And then-_

_He would always go to Rivaille. Not her, not me, not anyone but **Rivaille**. _

"Ah, I'm fine." He hurriedly said, trying to reassure the girl. "I'm fine, just-a little dizzy from writing so long."

Jean looked at him in concern. "Then, do you want to wait for a bit longer? Or should we just continue riding now?"

**_I would rather die than be a burden_. **Armin smiled. "No, I'm fine. Just a little bit shaken." He got up, legs trembling slightly. "Anyway, should we go? Jean? Mikasa?"

Jean eyed Armin's legs warily; they were shaking, knees knocking together. But instead of protesting, he agreed. "Yeah..let's go."

Armin held out a hand to Mikasa, offering to help her up. She looked at Armin in surprise, then smiled softly and took it. "Thank you," She murmered, voice soft against the forestall orchestra.

"Anytime."

Jean whistled sharply to them. "Oy! Idiots! The horses are going to run away if you two linger any longer!" Jean was feeling immensely irked for some reason, but he brushed it off. It was probably the heat that was getting to him.

* * *

I'M SO SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER. I GOT DISTRACTED. *cries*

Anyway…HOW WAS THE 14th episode, guys? *hahahahRivaillee*

*squuuu* It was so adorable when Rivaille kicked Eren's tooth halfway across the room..being his usual sassy self. XD (I'm sorry)

Am I the only who says "adorable" over and over again when Rivaille's beating Eren up?

AND WHEN RIVAILLE SLAMMED EREN IN THE FACE WITH HIS KNEE I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS HIS CROTCH. …Apparently not. *crowd boos*

Anyway..I got distracted with The Game of Love**again..**yes, I know. I'm sorry. BUT WRITING A HIGHSCHOOL AU OF RIVAILLE AND EREN IS SO FUNNNNN

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews make me type at the speed of lighting. Literally. *kaboom*


	22. Chapter 22

Eren stared at the trunk in shock, brushing his trembling fingers over the letters.

"Dad?" Rivaille knelt down by him, for once not caring if his pants got dirty.

"H-How? What-did he pass through here?" Eren looked at him in alarm. "But this is outside the wall! He was traveling to the inner the last time I saw him-what if he-"

"Shush." Rivaille put a finger to his lips, stopping Eren from talking. "The most likely thing," He said carefully, "Is that this is an **old** trunk of your fathers. Has he ever traveled outside the wall before?" He asked, inquiring.

Eren thought for a moment. "Once.." he murmured. "I think it was to collect data on the titans.."

Rivaille grunted. "Well, that explains it." He got up, brushing his pants off. "This is most likely an old trunk from that time."

"Well, why is it on the mountain, then?" Eren asked, panicking again. "Did he climb this?"

"It was probably thrown from horseback…" Rivaille assumed.

"_Thrown from horseback?!_" Eren's gaze grew wider. "Fucking _thrown _from horseback?! He would've gotten eaten from any titans that were wandering around at the moment!"

_Shit. Shouldn't have said that. _"Brat. Listen to me. Titans don't infest every single centimeter of this land-"

"They used to!"

"Well-"

"And the last time I saw my father-he was heading towards the interior! He couldn't have magically teleported to the outside!"

"Stop it!" Rivaille held his hand up. "You're getting me confused now, too! Just see what's in the damned trunk!"

Eren opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and stayed quiet, looking down into the wooden box. He reached in and pulled a square of fabric out. "..Clothes, I guess."

Rivaille grunted. "Good. We'll have something to wear-"

"We're not wearing my father's clothes!" Eren snapped. "What if he's dead and we're disgracing his memory!"

"Brat!" He glared at Eren. "We're dressed in muddy, frayed uniforms. We need clothes, whether you like it or not! Or we'll just go naked," He added as an afterthought.

"What-"

Heaving a sigh of impatience, Rivaille pushed him aside and started shifting through the trunk himself, passing random clothes to Eren. He even found a new cravat, which he was immensely happy about. At the bottom, the trunk abruptly stopped. And even as Rivaille's fingers scraped against the wood, there was no give. "…Is this just a fucking trunk full of _clothes_?!"

Eren bit his lip and held out the clothes to Rivaille. "I think…that I know how."

Rivaille took the mound of fabric, watching Eren warily as he knelt by the trunk. His fingers brushed against the grooves in the wood, then-he pressed a knot, and the bottom of the trunk sprung open. "What the hell?" Rivaille breathed, looking down.

"My father sometimes let me play with his trunks-"

"Not that," Rivaille impatiently said, pointing to the bottom. "What the hell is _that_?!"

At the bottom, there was a bundled collection of potions, all different sizes and colors. A faint clinking sound was heard as Eren pulled some out, holding them up to the light and shaking them.

A light purple one made a sloshing noise, the faded green one made a bubbly sound-how the fuck was that possible-and a red one made a wet _plopping _sound, which made Rivaille screw up his nose. "What the hell are all these for?"

"You know my father was a doctor! These could've been his…potions or whatever!"

Rivaille grabbed one from Eren, sniffing it. "…It smells like shit."

"Maybe they're expired potions!"

Rivaille gave that one back to Eren, then started rummaging through the other bottles, shifting the mound of clothes to his hip. Suddenly, his finger brushed against a plastic bottle, and he reached for it curiously, grabbing it and examining the foreign object.

It was a syringe.

Eren yelped, then hurriedly took it from his hand, staring at it in horror. "…There's still some injection left in there.."

Rivaille raised an eyebrow. "It's just a syringe, brat. Like you said, your father was a doctor-it could've been anything."

"Eh?" Eren looked at up. "..Yeah, yeah." He looked at the plastic container again.

"..Hold on for a fucking second." Rivaille's eyes narrowed. "Didn't you say…that your father injected you with something-that's how you-"

Eren gulped.

"..Give me that!" Rivaille dropped the clothes and lunged for Eren, wresting for the syringe.

Eren frantically tried to keep it away from him, but after a back hand punch from Rivaille-in his face-the syringe was knocked in the air, and Rivaille grabbed it-(he had to stand on Eren)

"So. Brat." Rivaille waved the syringe threatingly in the air. "Talk."

Eren was on his knees, staring up at the other. "..I.."

"Forget it." Rivaille brushed him off impatiently, turning the needle over in his hand. "..Does that mean-if I get injected with his-I could become a titan, too?"

"_No!_" Eren screamed, standing up. Rivaille jerked in surprise, glaring at him. "Why the hell not?! Don't tell me that this is some Jaegar problem or some shit-"

"You can't! You can't!" Eren was practically pleading now, hands clasped together. "I won't let you become a monster, too!"

Rivaille closed his eyes. "..Eren." The other blinked in surprise; Rivaille'd used his first name. "Like you said. When we're out here-we can do _anything_, and no one would give a fuck about it. We could name this mountain Helen, for all that matters! So here, you won't be labeled as a monster,_ because there is no society to call you anything_. Here, to me-" He looked at Eren. "You are Eren Jaegar. An annoying brat, a spirited idiot, and my-" here he coughed and mumbled something that Eren couldn't hear-"Anyway!" He waved the syringe in the air once more. "The point is! I can take this, and no one would label me as a monster, if that's what you're thinking!"

"..Please. I'm begging you. Don't take it!" Eren bowed his head, brushing his fingers against the ashy ground. "Please.."

Rivaille's eyes softened slightly, then he pocketed the syringe, sighing. "We'll talk about this later, yes?"

Eren's head snapped up, his face much brighter now. "Yes!"

Rivaille nudged the edge of the trunk with his boot. "..Now…what the fuck are we going to do about this thing?"

He cursed under his breath, looking at the scattered clothes that he'd dumped on the ground. He bent and started picking them up, shaking the ash and dust off the fabric. "Brat. You take the potions and whatnot. I'll keep the clothes in my bag."

Eren nodded, quickly scrambling to pick up the brightly colored jars. They made a clanking sound as he shoved them in his bag, and Rivaille couldn't help wincing as he thought of the days ahead.

So much fucking noise..

Rivaille folded the clothes neatly and put them in his bag, looking at the bottom to see if there was any excess things. Only some salvaged papaya that escaped the fate of becoming a face facial.

As he and Eren both got packed, he was ready to kick the trunk to the bottom of the mountain, when-

"wait!" Eren quickly pulled out his blade, kneeling by the lid. The words **Grisha Jaegar **gleamed faintly in the light. He quickly carved out the words, peeling away that strip of velvet that lined the inside. There was a beat of silence, then Eren fell to his knees, a choked sound escaping his lips.

"…" Rivaille didn't question him, only turned away to give Eren some privacy. The brat'd started to sob, holding the words tightly to his face.

What was a lover supposed to do at this moment?  
Comfort them?

Sighing, he dropped his pack to the ground and went over to Eren, kneeling and wrapping his arms around the other boy. Eren felt him there, and for some reason, had started crying harder. Rivaille was about to pull away when he felt a warm hand clasp on his trembling fingers, so they stayed there,

Joined together under the arrival of twilight.

~X~

"It's starting to become dark! Shouldn't we stop now?" Jean asked Armin. Armin nodded, and looked at Mikasa, who had kept on riding, a determined look on her face. "..I'm not sure if Mikasa wants to stop, though."

Jean sighed. "Mikasa. It won't do any good to Eren if you wind up getting lost in the forest or something. Then we would have to go look for you, and then that would cut away from our time as well. With horses, we're covering a lot of distance. We should actually be really close them now."

The dense foliage that they were passing through rustled, as though in agreement. "Ah!" Jean spotted a clearing. "We can stay here!"

They entered through some overhanging vines, horses stepping lightly. As they dismounted, Jean pulled out his provisions again, looking around. "Ah! Papaya!"

Sure enough, the gleaming yellow fruit was hanging from a tree. He went over and pulled them down, grinning at the light of finding food. Armin was about to sit down on a bed of moss, when he spotted what seemed like dried white paste. "…is that.." He reached out a finger to it.

"Armin! Let's eat!"

He jerked his fingers back, nodding to Jean. "Okay!"

They built another fire and clustered around it together, huddling from the night chill. They had a night of chopped papaya and jerky, sometimes actually making conversation.

As they finished, a round of 'good night' was heard, and they went to their own prospective sleeping places; Armin's was by the moss.

"..Armin." Mikasa's soft voice was heard from the left of him; she was sleeping by a tree.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that Eren loves me?"

"Of course," He reassured her, having a hint to what this was about. "Why wouldn't he? He would do anything for you, Mikasa."

The girl stayed quiet. "I meant-in a lover way."

He had been right. Armin curled himself into a ball. Somewhere along the road, Mikasa's feelings of siblings had evolved somehow into _love_.

He heard a rustle to the right of him; Jean was listening too, apparently.

_That's right..._he closed his eyes and smiled to himself. _Jean loves Mikasa_. What the hell had he been thinking?

"Mikasa.." The girl shifted, conscious of everything in the dark. "I don't think so."

"I see." Her voice scared Armin-there was no emotion in there, no sadness, no anger, no fury-just a cold, quiet tone. Like a human-machine. Robots, he'd read. But that was fiction, of course.

"I mean-I don't think Eren can see you as anything other than a sister. You're too important to him for that."

"Is that right?"

"And.." –Here Armin moved-"You have something beautiful right _in front _of you, but you're not willing to see it."

Jean jerked in surprise-was Armin talking about him?

Mikasa turned to face Armin. "What're you talking about?"

Armin smiled. "If you don't let Eren cloud your senses so much, you'll learn to appreciate the world around you even more. You're blind, Mikasa." He explained gently. "You need to _see_. There are plenty of people out there who care for you and _love _you, even. You just need to give them a chance."

Maybe Mikasa nodded. Maybe Mikasa had even cried a little. But whatever she did, Armin didn't know, because it was dark. And the darkness hid everything.

"..How's Hanji doing?" For the first time, Jean spoke up.

"We left her alone at the HQ.." Armin sighed. "But Irvin's out there-"

"Armin. Listen to me. When was the last time that you saw Irvin?"

"Two years ago, but-"

"He could be dead by now! You just _left _Hanji there to fend by herself?! I know she's amazing, but-"

"It was my idea." Mikasa's quiet voice cut through. "I was only thinking of Eren."

"..Hey, Mikasa. Do you think Hanji will come looking for us?" Armin asked the girl.

"…No. She doesn't let her personal feelings cloud her judgment. What's the most likely situation is that she'll try to recruit more people for the Recon Corps."

"The wing of freedom, right?" Armin laughed quietly.

_The first words that Eren'd said after waking. _

"_That's the…wing of freedom." _

_Not anything to them. His attention was fixed solely on Rivaille, the corporal alone. _

And after watching them for awhile, Armin thought, smiling to himself. _Eren loved Rivaille. Maybe it was more like an idolization, but like Mikasa's infatuation, it evolved into love. _

_Strange how things work, isn't it? _

_Maybe-_

_Friendship will evolve into love too. _

He laughed at himself. "What am I thinking.."

_Eren, I hope you're happy. _

* * *

Haha, I tried, I tried! Don't sue me…TT^TT

Anyway..it's amazing how fanart and doujinshis can inspire you so much! I honestly don't think I'll ever let go of this OTP…well, all my favorite shippings stay in my heart forever…

But Rivaille and Eren have a special place in it.

Anyway..I only relized two days ago that OTL was actually a person kneeling on the ground.

..Yeah. Look at this technology deprived person. *crowd boos*

So..question of the day.

What's your favorite keyboard face? (Mine is the Rivaille emoji, if you know what I mean XD)

Until next time! Ja Ne~!

K.K

Reviews help Rivaille succeed in his endeavors to stuff Eren in a dress! (come on, give that poor guy some help)HanH


	23. Chapter 23

After the rain, a think fog had settled over the forest, effectively covering everything in its midst.

"Make sure we're not going in circles…" Jean called to them, dismounting from his horse and walking over to a rock, scratching it with a penknife.

Mikasa and Armin halted, waiting for him. "Done!" Heaving a sigh of relief, he ran back to his horse, swinging one leg over it. "I don't like the look of this fog.." Armin said, gripping the reins of his horse harder. "We won't effectively see if the titans do decide to attack. We would be fighting with limited vision.."

Jean laughed. "Well, you guys have me now!" He thumped his chest proudly. "Never fear, Jean's here!" Armin looked at him in disbelief, stifling a laugh. "Yeah, yeah. Say that when you get eaten."

"Hey!"

Mikasa said nothing, staying quiet during their mock banter, leading the horse on through the mist.

"I think…we may be lost."

"Eh?" Jean looked at her in surprise. "But we should be approaching the edge of the forest about now-"

Mikasa's horse whinnied and balked, almost throwing her off. "There's something ahead!"

"Alive?"

"No…I don' think so-" She peered closely at the hulking mass in front of her. "I think it's a house, actually-"

"What the fuck would a house be doing here?" Jean asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you want to take a look at it?" Armin led his horse on cautiously,

"Why not?" Jean slid down from his horse, boots sinking into the wet grass.

Armin did the same, stumbling a bit from the mud. He and Jean walked to what seemed like piles of ply board and wood of some sort, occasionally stumbling over a occasional piece of board that emerged from the fog.

Jean fingered the driftwood, wincing as some splinters got caught in his finger. Armin picked his way through the maze of planks and nails, rummaging through the rubble.

"Hey!" Armin called to him, waving a misshapen piece in his hand.

"I think I found-"

Mikasa cut him off, brutally dropping a piece of wood with a harsh _clank _sound. Jean swiveled his head around at the sharp noise, blinking in confusion as he saw Mikasa crouched over a piece of rubble. "Mikasa?"

"Look." She held out a thin piece of paper to him, looking away.

"Eh?...What's this?" Jean took the paper, fingering the texture cautiously. It was photo paper, he realized; it was slick and heavy to the touch, its mass far heavier than normal paper. He squinted at the photo. It was hard to see with the fog, so Jean brought it up closer to his face, squinting at the image.

A dark figure was on the surface, blurry at first. As Jean impatiently wiped the dew from the photo, it sharpened, making it easier for him to see. A boy with a dark haircut stared back at him. His hair was shaggy and long, reaching almost all the way down his neck, and a smile adorned his face.

"…Guys, you don't think.."

Armin walked over to him, peering over his shoulder. "..Is that.."

"Corporal?" Mikasa finished for him.

"No way!" Jean crowed in surprise. "There's no way he can smile! They say that when Corporal smiles, babies are born!"

"..Is that a good thing?" Armin asked sheepishly.

"…I don't think so." Jean shook his head.

"Anyway," Mikasa sighed, pulling her scarf up around her face. The torn end fluttered in the wind; the fabric was still broken. "Should we get going?"

"…." Armin looked longingly back at the wreckage. "but think about all the things that could be in there-furthermore, if this is really Rivaille's old house, who knows who could be in there? And if-no, _when _we meet up with him and Eren, we could always give him the things that are salvaged."

"Armin." Jean sighed. "I don't think its possible for Rivaille _not _to have passed here, honestly." Mikasa murmured. "Look." She pointed to the ground. There was a scuffle of footsteps there, and random skid marks as well, as if someone had been fighting. "That was probably made by Rivaille and Eren-"

"Well then, what the hell were they doing?!" Jean snapped. "Hate sex?! …Actually, there's a really good possibility of that happening.." He added as an afterthought.

Armin gulped and looked awkwardly to the side, a flush on his cheeks. "Well.."

"…_Sex?!_" Mikasa's voice was dangerously low, and Armin could see her twitching fingers reaching for her blade. He quickly grasped her hand, stopping it in its tracks. "Mikasa. You have to let him go sometime." When the girl didn't say anything, Armin pressed on. "Hey, right?"

If he hadn't been looking at her so intently, he would've noticed Jean staring at their hands steadily, hand clutching the photo tightly.

~X~

Eren's bag was heavier than normal, and he walked on, the bottles of potions clanking against each other in his bag. Rivaille's eyebrow twitched, but he ignored it, closing his eyes and pressing on.

_Clink. Clack...Clink..._"Will you stop that infernal _clinking _noise?!"

"Eh?" Eren looked at him in confusion, squinting against the light mist that'd fallen.

"The bloody.." Rivaille waved his arms around uselessly. "clanking noise!"

Eren watched him in amusement. "..You know, if I couldn't hear you right now, you would look like you were having a spasm."

Rivaille glared at him, then pulled him close by the hem of his jacket, breathing heavily. "I swear to god, Eren Jaegar, I will cut your balls off if you ever-"

"Hey! A bird!" Eren hurriedly tried to change the subject. It sort of worked; Rivaille turned his head in confusion, looking for the mentioned fowl. Eren took the moment to break free, running up the mountain. "Hey! Wait!" Rivaille growled under his breath. "Once I catch that brat.."

Eren just looked back and laughed at him, hair blowing in the wind. "Your hair looks like a mess, idiot!" Rivaille called to him.

"I could say the same to you!" Eren grinned, extending out his arm to help Rivaille. The other didn't need any help, quickly catching up to Eren and backhanding his face. "Ow! What was that for?!" Eren whined, rubbing the back of his skull. Rivaille snorted. "You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"No!"

Rivaille closed his eyes. "There was a famous saying that said-the people who deny that they're crazy are really the messed up ones, and the ones who admit it are the sane. ..Or maybe that was for good and evil." He added as an afterthought.

"..Are you calling me a crazy psychopath?" Eren looked at him incredulously.

"…Maybe." Rivaille smirked. Eren sighed, rolling his eyes. "What else did I expect?"

Rivaille didn't reply, looking towards the top of the mountain. "We should be there soon."

Unlike the other mountain, which got colder as they went up, this one was the opposite. It was frighteningly warm, and Rivaille was already sweating, despite him taking his jacket off. He would pay to god if that meant getting a cold cup of water, maybe with a slice of lemon...Rivaille had to hold back a sigh of longing. He usually wasn't one to ogle food-but he was desperate now, it was burning hot, and the clanking sounds coming from Eren's bag had failed to cease.

There was what seemed like a flat surface at the top, just like the other one, Rivaille remembered. At least _something _was normal. Rivaille increased his pace, wanting to get to the top faster.

The heat was getting even worse as he got higher. Wait-how the fuck was that possible-and the light rumbling sound that they'd heard earlier on in the mountain had increased in volume and tumor; Rivaille could literally feel it under his feet.

"Rivaille! Rivaille!" Eren called to him. "What's wrong?" Rivaille had stopped, standing shock still on the mountain. He'd reached the edge of the 'top' now.

"Ha.." He laughed brokenly. "It seems like…you were right after all, brat."

"Eh?" Eren caught up to him, leaning over. "…No. _No way_." Below them was a gaping craven, and in it were intense waves of what seemed like melted fire, roaring and splashing below them. The sight was _beautiful_, _intense_. The color of the melted substance was brilliant and blinding; whether white or red, Rivaille couldn't tell.

"River of fire." Eren covered his mouth with his hand. "Armin…I've seen it…I've seen it, Armin! Your book was right-right from the very beginning. Oh god…"

Rivaille looked sideways at him; it looked like the brat was having a breakdown. "..You okay?"

Eren nodded slowly. "Just…a little overwhelmed."

Rivaille exhaled slowly. "But…" He gestured to the fire. "How the fuck are we supposed to cross this?"

Eren bit his lip. "We walk around it?"

Rivaille looked at the rim of the volcano. It was wide and gaping. "…You want to walk that far?"

Eren shook his head. "But-what other choice do we have?" Rivaille's mouth slowly twisted into a sadistic grin. "..I shouldn't have said that, right?" Eren backed away from the other slowly.

"You know.." Rivaille leaned even closer to him. "I've always wondered how your titan skin would react to fire, right? E-r-e-n…" He stretched the syllables of his name out, elongating the title.  
"You sound like Hanji."

Rivaille screwed up his face. "…No."

"Anyway.." he clapped his hands together. "Should we try?"

Eren looked in horror at the fire. "You want me to go into _that_?"

"Well, the way you were practically having an eyegasm earlier, I thought you would _like _this opportunity!"

"Ha…thanks, but…_no thanks._" Eren backed away slowly.

Rivaille gripped his arm, smiling. "You're going into that, and that's _final_."

"What if I bloody melt?!" Eren wailed in panic.  
Rivaille paused for a moment. "..that is a possibility, isn't it?"

Eren nodded frantically. Rivaille shrugged. "Dip a finger in, and we'll see."

Eren carefully brought his hand up to his mouth. Just before he bit down, the human-titan looked at Rivaille. "What if I loose control and-"

"If you loose control, I will castrate you once you're human again." The creepy smile was back on Rivaille's face. "Just think of that, okay?" He patted Eren's head. "That's a good boy."

Eren gulped and hurriedly bit down before changing his mind.

A burst of smoke, then a fifteen meter titan stood where Eren used to be, steam whirling around its jaws.

Rivaille stayed a few paces back, just in case the titan _did _decide to attack. The reason that he wanted Eren to see if he was burnable to fire was so that he could know the others limits. It would prove useful in the future if he could get this type of information now.

God. He really did sound like Hanji, didn't he?

The titan still stood there-was he awaiting conformation?

Rivaille nodded slightly to the other, signaling him to start. Eren knelt slowly at the edge of the pit, then swished a finger in the lava.

There was a slight hissing sound, and Eren pulled his finger out. Rivaille motioned him to show him his hand, wanting to inspect the finger.

It was slightly-'steamier' than usual, if Rivaille could say that. But the flesh was still there, and the skin had stayed.

"Brat." He looked up into his flickering green eyes. "I think that you're good." After giving a firm pat to the other's fingernail, he proceeded to climb the gigantic arm.

"Well then." He perched on his shoulder. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

….300 reviews. 300 bloody reviews.

…My god, I can't tell you how happy I am right now..*sobs into your shoulder*

Okay..so as I always do, I will pick people who I will write one-shots for-

**Three **people this time-*god, what have I gotten myself into?!*

The winners will be revealed next time! *dumroll*

I love you guys so much-*god, how many times have I said that?!*

So…..lets do our best to shoot for 400! Whoo!

Until next time! Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews will give you a hundred virtual cookies in your mail! The cookies you eat, don't worry. XD


	24. Chapter 24

_The lava was burning hot. _Rivaille winced as the hot liquid splashed around Eren's waist, and even though it was probably useless anyway, he gripped tighter to the thick strand of hair that he was clinging on.

Eren moved slowly through the lava, and Rivaille marveled-not for the first time-how titans seemed immune to everything, even though he himself had killed so many, and easily, too. His fingers fluttered to his inner jacket pocket, thinking of the plastic syringe that lay there.

One injection.

It would be so easy…

A particular drop of lava splashed on Eren's other arm, and Rivaille had to cover his ears against the infernal roar that sounded, almost losing his balance.

Now, his biggest problem was how they were going to get out. Rivaille tensed, thinking about the long drop that Eren had to face to get down. The lava was deep too, almost going all the way up Eren's 15-meter titan form. The sloshing sounds that filled the air was due to Eren's determined gait, forcing his way across the thick river.

In front of them lay another gigantic wall, twin to the one that Eren had slid down before.

Rubbing his hands to his temple, Rivaille sighed in frustration.

Titans couldn't usually climb, and to top matters off, the wall was smooth.

_Great thinking, Rivaille. _

_Yeah. Now we'll be stuck here in the fucking heat. _

"Now I'm talking to myself.." Rivaille grumbled. "I must be going insane.."

Eren's titan didn't respond to his words, unless you counted the slight head tilt-but Rivaille laid that action on the fact that a huge wave of lava had splashed Eren's other side.

Steam hissed between Eren's teeth, and Rivaille looked at the…"other" face. The head was bowed down, eyes closed. It was almost as if it was...dormant.

At least Eren's 'abnormal' titan form was normal-

Who knows? If Rivaille turned into an abnormal, what would his abnormality look like?

He chuckled to himself. "The worst is a getting a titan dick. I would be the first titan that needed clothes, eh?"

This time Eren uttered a choked hacking sound that seemed like a laugh.

Rivaille absently patted the shoulder below him. "Hey, brat."

Eren growled.

"You can't climb, right?"

There was a shuffling motion, and Eren lifted up his gnarled hands for Rivaille to see.

The fingernails on there were chipped and broken. "…Guess titans can't get nail jobs, hm?"

Eren did a weird motion with his face that passed for a smile. A fucking scary one, that is.

Rivaille sighed, swinging his legs. They had almost reached the wall now, and Rivaille still hadn't thought of a plan.

"Stop." Eren halted; the lava swirled around him for a moment. Rivaille reached out to brush against the wall, fingers testing the smooth texture. "hmm…"

He got up from Eren's shoulder and walked around to the back, groaning when he was reminded of Eren's enhanced protection. "….Oy. Is there anyway you can scratch yourself out?"

Eren grunted, staying still. Rivaille looked regretfully at his remaining blades.

"Brat, I'm being serious here. We need all the weapons we can get. Or we'll be reduced to making wooden swords out of tree bark. Didn't you raise yourself out of that titan in Trost? You can do it, right?" Eren heaved himself straighter, standing erect. A shudder passed through him, and there was a low growl that send vibrations up Rivaille's spine.

"GGGGWWARRGGHHHHHH!"

The skin around his neck shuddered, and Rivaille quickly jumped there to help a bit, carving out a path with his still remaining blade.

A dark head emerged from the broken skin, and steam from the titan body quickly filled the air, clouding Rivaille's vision. He quickly pulled Eren out from the titan, noting how hot the boy's skin was. Quickly getting his grappling hook-He had replaced it with Eren's spare one-he shot them up to the rim of the volcano, looking gingerly at the huge body mass left behind them.

"..are you sure it's okay just to leave it there?" He set Eren gently down on the rim of the mountain, noting the boy's wobbling legs. Eren groaned, tilting his head back. "I'm fine.." he reassured the other. "Just...promise me that you won't make me do anything like that ever again."

Rivaille stood silent for a moment. "I promise." He finally said, straightening up.

_Because it won't be you doing things like that. _

_**Next time, it'll be me.**_

~X~  
"Look! It's a mountain!" Armin pointed out emphatically, face alight. Jean squinted; he couldn't see well, it was nightfall. "…So?"

"Armin, how are we going to get our horses up that?" Mikasa asked quietly, pulling her scarf tighter around her face; it was a habit.

Armin thought for a moment. The genius strategist bit his lip, pulling his cloak partly over his face. "We can't."

Jean spluttered, looking at Armin in indignation. "We are not abandoning these beauties-"

"We're not." Armin said, thoroughly deprecated. "We're going to bring the horses with us."

"How?" Mikasa quietly asked, patting her horses neck as it whickered.

Armin took a deep breath. "We'll go _around _the mountain."

"Oh. Great. That's a universal idea." Jean deadpanned, raising his eyebrow.

"I know that it's stupid," Armin snapped. "But what did you think I was going to say? Hey guys, I'll come up with a brilliant plan to waste our gas and we'll _fly _above the mountain!"

"Actually, I did."

"Well-"

"GUUUWWARRGHH!"

A hideous roar echoed off the mountain, filling the air with horrifying sound.

Jean jumped in shock, freezing for a moment. "..Please tell me that that was your stomach."

Armin gritted his teeth. "I think we're near titan area."

Jean shrugged. "It'll be easy with the three of us-we have Mikasa too, right?"

"Have you seen the abnormal ones?" Mikasa interjected

"Abnormal?" Jean asked in confusion.

"Didn't you see any when you were with the cult?" Armin asked, confused.

"….the only titans there were the 'normal' ones." Jean sketched quotations around the word. "But.."

Jean sighed. "Are you sure that you're not just imagining things?"

"No!" Armin snapped. "Me and Mikasa saw them, clear as day-"

"It's true." Mikasa quietly said.

"….then, what of these abnormals?" Jean finally accepted, sighing.

_So he'll believe Mikasa, but not me. _Armin's eyebrow twitched. For some reason, that was strangely irritating.

"Titans with extra limbs-"

"And this extra protection on their necks." Armin uselessly gestured to his neck.

"how are you killing them, then?"

"Bombs." Mikasa simply explained. Jean nodded thoughtfully, putting a hand to his chin.

Armin sighed and looked down at his hands. _The hand of a person defines who they are. Warriors have callouses and scars. Writers and Artists have thin, pale hands, usually ink stained. _My hands are a mixture of both, he thought. Not the hands of a writer, or a warrior, but something in-between.

Armin fit into places, even though he didn't belong.

Jean always belonged, but never exactly fit in.

They were polar opposites. Maybe that was why they had such an interesting relationship. But the word relationship was usually used in _romantic _cases, and that definitely wasn't the case this time.

Never would be, elaborating on that fact.

The horses were still calm, swishing their tails to ward off any gnats or flies. _It would be really nice if we were all horses…_Armin thought in envy. _You don't have to worry about gigantic people eating you, hm? _He patted his horse's head gently, listing to the responding nicker.

Jean sighed and rubbed his head. "Well…the mountain is huge. How are we going to get around that? How long is it going to take us?"

Armin's mind whirled with calculations. "At the least, one and a half days."

"…Are you sure there isn't a faster way?" Mikasa asked, shifting. She was impatient to get to Eren, Armin realized. Maybe she was going to finally confront him about her feelings, regardless of what he feels. _To be honest, _Armin thought with a laugh. _I would probably do it too, if I was in love with someone that deeply…_

Jean cocked his head and looked at Mikasa "No, if there was a faster way, I'm sure Armin would've told us. Right, Armin?" He looked sideways at Armin, flashing him a brief grin. Armin felt a slight warmth in his chest, and his pulse fluttered. "Eh? Oh, yeah." He nodded his head in response to Jean's question. _What is this? What's this feeling? _

"Anyway…if we want to get there faster, we should start sooner, right?" Jean reined in his horse, bringing it to a steady trot. When Mikasa and Armin didn't follow, he impatiently turned. "Oy! Are you coming or not?!"

Armin hurriedly clicked his tongue, signaling his horse to move. Mikasa waited for a moment longer, then followed after him, listening to the steady beat of the horse footsteps.

They traveled for a bit longer, until Jean couldn't see his hand in front of his face; it was too dark. When he mentioned offhandly that they should probably stop, Mikasa whipped her head around and glared at him-that much Jean could see in the dark.

Did Mikasa hate him? He wondered, running a hand through his hair. It wasn't like _hate_, that much he knew. She didn't _hate _him necessarily speaking, but didn't particularly _like _him either. And if you really thought about it, there really was not much difference between like and love.

You could like your friend, and that feeling could easily slip through the thin barrier of feelings.

Does that mean that he could fall in love that easily, once again?

He had loved Marco, or so he thought. But maybe that was just a distraction from his feelings for Mikasa. If you thought about it, the only reason that he liked Mikasa was because of her looks. And hair, he thought, chuckling to himself. But she cut it off at a single word from Eren, he thought bitterly to himself. _What the hell did that guy have that he didn't, anyway?! _

He had won Rivaille's favor quickly as well, although Jean didn't envy him for that-it wasn't worth all the bruises and kicks that he had seen Eren commonly receive.

He liked Eren, that was true. They were friends, maybe even really close ones.

But truthfully, the only reason that he was going with them was because-

Going somewhere with a steady _purpose _was something that he had forgotten the feeling of.

What was the Recon corps to do after all the titans fell?

What purpose would they have?

They would become useless, like the Military Police with nothing to do.

And there would be no elite-

_No._

There would still be an elite, but the standard would be lowered far, far beyond their reach.

_It is not the goal that matters, but the journey to it. _

That was true, but what if the journey there hurt you?

Would it matter then?

And without a goal-what was the purpose of living?

"_We're like fucking __**livestock**__, hiding behind the wall!" _That had been what Eren had said, the first day at the training camp.

It was fucking stupid, Jean had thought back then. But right before that, for a split second, he had mindlessly agreed with the boy, thinking that maybe, just _maybe_, they had found a leader.

Words could spark motivation like nothing else could.

It was amazing, though. How a sentence of words, haphazardly strung together, could get you to feel unbelievably sad, to the point where you're moved to tears-

Or full of rage, when your body feels the point of overwhelming anger and you just want to release it out because there is no escape point-

Or full of warmth, one that spreads through your whole being, making you feel whole and _loved._

Words were powerful in a way that Jean never really got,

From the moment he learned how to read.

But all the same, he really never learned how to be academic either, so that explained most of it.

* * *

I'M SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATEEEEEEE. Well….kind of late update.

I was busy with band stuff…I should've never joined colorguard. *bangs head against wall*

Anyway, because I know there'll be some questions about these-

**Q-**Why didn't Rivaille tell Eren to go around the volcano, like Armin and the others?  
**A-**Rivaille doesn't like wasting time, he's an impatient person, and he knows that there's a highly likely chance that others are coming after them.

He also wanted to see how titan skin would react to extreme heat-but he was cautious too-that's why he made Eren stick his finger in the lava to try it first….yeah. He's curious about the durability of titan skin, mainly because of the syringe, and-(mild Hanji moment) he wanted to see if the titans had any other vulnerabilities.

Hope that answers some questions that you guys have! Feel free to ask more!

So…THE MOMENT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FORRRRRR

THE WINNERSSSSS AREEEEE

*drumroll*

**taruchoo!**

**67sexy-whales42! **(BTW, I love your username XD)

And…..

**Hitsugi Zirkus!**

So..I'll PM you guys about the one-shot. ^^

But overall, thank you allllllllll for reviewing and giving me support! ^^ I take time to re-read each one of your reviews, and-*goes on a sappy monologue*

And just because I feel like I should give you something extra…

**Next chapter Preview! **(Because of the one-shots, I'll probably take a while…^^")

"...I want to protect you." Rivaille admitted, stroking Eren's hair and looking at the boy's face in the candlelight.

Innocent, pure.

"I want to be with you forever." He bowed his head, whether in embarrassment or shame, he didn't know.

"I love you. I love so much that-it's frightening. Because, Eren." Rivaille lifted his eyes slightly. "I've never been in love before."

**To be continued….**

I LOVE YOU GUYS! (to the point where it's slightly scaring even me)

K.K


	25. Chapter 25

After going through a bottle of water, Rivaille had deemed Eren 'ready' enough to continue their downward trek. After packing their bags securely, they continued down, careful not to get ash on their boots. Rivaille was thoroughly tired now, clothes hanging in strips and tatters on his body.

His once white pants were stained with a dark dirt,

Jacket sleeves ripped and torn by tree branches.

And his cravat was nowhere as clean as it had been. They needed shelter, and fast. That's why when Eren pointed out the wooden cabin by the base of the mountain, Rivaille didn't believe him at first-it was too good to be true.

"Brat. You're not seeing things, right?"

"No."

"Are you sure?! Here, let me check." Rivaille gave a hard slap to Eren's head, then clamped his hands around Eren's skull and turned him again. "Is it still there?!"

"Yes." Eren winced, rubbing his forehead. "There has to be some way that doesn't involve pain, right?"

"Eh. But I'm a sadist, you know me."

"True, True." Eren sighed. "I must be a masochist to put up with you."

Rivaille snorted. "I am your corporal, after all." He opened his mouth to say something else, but then stopped, deciding that whatever thought he was chewing on wasn't important. "Let's go, brat."

Eren nodded in confusion, but followed Rivaille down the slope anyway, boots sinking into the slightly spongy earth.

Again, the mountain was smaller than he thought, so they reached the base in no time.

Rivaille stumbled a bit, but held strong, brushing himself off and walking towards the faraway cabin.

"Rivaille?"

"Hm?"

"Don't you think.." Eren gulped.  
"There should be at least _some _titans around here?"

"….You never know." Rivaille said finally.  
"I don't think so, though. Titans are…'rare', nowadays."

"I guess.." Eren mumbled. "Hey, sometimes I'm glad that the titans evolved."

Rivaille, who was taking a sip of water, spluttered. "What the fuck!? These shitty-"

"No, no, I didn't mean that!" Eren frantically explained. "I mean, can you imagine a world without titans? What would we do, then? We would have no purpose-there would be no Recon Corps-"

"….Shut up." Rivaille sighed, drawing a hand through his hair. "We really need a shower."

"Stop avoiding the topic."

"I'm not." Rivaille patiently explained. "Let's wait until we get to the cabin, okay? If anyone's in there-there's probably no one there-we can ask them why there aren't any titans there. And if by any chance, we run into the motherfucker that created the titans-"

"Why are you so desperate to believe that a human created them?! What about natural causes?!"

"There's nothing fucking _natural _about them, idiot! Hell, they don't even _digest _the food! They throw it back up! I know that humans probably taste horrible, but that's no reason to just throw it back up because you don't like it!"

"..Are you honestly getting mad because we don't get eaten _properly? _That all the food our bodies provide is getting wasted?" Eren snickered.

"…Shut up." Rivaille huffed and walked on. The grass by his feet blew in an unseen wind, and the air turned colder. Or maybe that was just his imagination-but he had a bad feeling about entering the house.

"…Eren."  
"Eh?" The boy looked at him.

"…Stay behind me, okay?"

"Why wouldn't I?" The boy asked in confusion, raising an eyebrow. Rivaille sighed. "Nothing-I just have this bad feeling-"

"Fine! I'll open the door!" Eren snapped suddenly.

"What? No, Eren-"

Eren strode forward and put his hand on the faded doorknob. "One…two…three-"

The door flew open on its own and Eren yelped, leaping back.

A gnarled face was peering at him, leaning closer. Rivaille hurriedly ran over to where they were, yanking Eren back, further away from the strange man.

"Who are you?" He stupidly hissed, eyes wide.

"Me?" The voice of the man was strangely familiar. "I…don't know."

Rivaille opened and closed his mouth, but found nothing to say,. "…."

"Do you want to come in?" The man smiled, eyes giving a vapid look.

"Sure, why not?" Eren shrugged off Rivaille's complaints and started going in the cabin, pulling Rivaille along with him.

The strange man closed the door behind him, and Rivaille looked around warily. The scent of drying jerky was in the air, and he found that source of that by the window. Strips of meat were drying-it seemed like cow meat, but he couldn't be sure. A formidable array of knives lay on the counter, and Rivaille gingerly fingered one, touching the cold steel. He quickly snuck a peek over his shoulder-Eren and the strange man was talking over a carved bobble-

_Wasn't this going a bit fast?! _Rivaille thought in confusion. _Furthermore, why would a cabin-a furnished cabin, and a human be doing out here, in the middle of no where? And I didn't see animals-this doesn't make any sense! _

He fingered the cold knife skeptically; the texture and feel felt familiar. Suddenly, the realization came to him. _These knives were made by the same metal that our blades are made from-how did he get these?! Fuck-this is making my head spin-_

"Rivaille!" Eren called enthusiastically. "Look at these!"

Rivaille turned to see what he was talking about. In his hand, Eren held a wood carving. It was a bear, with a salmon in its mouth. Everything was shaped with great care and detail.  
"Did…you make this?" He found himself asking the strange man.

"Yep!" The man grinned, seemingly proud of himself.

"It's…beautiful." Rivaille admitted truthfully.

"Thank you." The man grinned back at him. "It took me a long time!"

"I can tell." He turned over the carving, admiring it. It was truly a wonderful piece of work-Rivaille hadn't seen such a sculpture since-since-

"Irvin.." he whispered in realization.

"Eh?" Eren looked at him. "Isn't Irvin on a mission? Why did you-"

Rivaille tossed the wood carving to Eren-(Be careful, that'll break!)-and with a single fluid motion, slammed the man to the wall. "Who the fuck are you?!" He snarled. "Your cutlery-knives-and I bet, even your scalpel-are made out of _our _blades!" He tightened his grip on the man's collar. "Who are you?!" He repeated, breathing harshly. "Did you lure soldiers in here-and then _eat _them?! Is that it? Well? Answer me!" He demanded. "Those strips of meat there-are they human, or animal?"

"Rivaille, stop!" Eren quickly grabbed his arm, forcing him off the other man. "What the fuck are you doing?!" He hissed. "We're getting _shelter_, sleeping under a goddamn _roof _for once, and you decide to screw it all up and kill someone?!"

"Don't you understand?!" Rivaille growled. "This guy isn't _normal_. Something's wrong with him. I think that it's-"

"What are you guys talking about?" The man's face suddenly appeared over Rivaille's shoulder, and Eren leaped back in surprise. "I-I'm sorry about before!" he hastily apologized.

"Eh? For what?" The man looked surprised.

"…Short-term memory loss." Rivaille finished, sighing.

The man had led them to a far-off room in the corner, which contained one (filthy) bed, and a shaky table. But Eren was too tired to care, and as soon as he arranged his bags, he fell on the bed like a ragdoll, curling a blanket around himself. There was a candle on the table, and Rivaille lit it with a bit of coal and ash that he'd picked up from the mountain.

After that, he tested the bed strength, and once satisfied that it would hold his weight, he crawled in next to Eren, settling his back against his. Eren took his hand and gave it a soft kiss, and Rivaille quickly took it back.

"No fucking tonight, brat. The bed's full of ticks and god knows what."

Eren made a snorting noise that sounded like a laugh, and he curled his fingers around Rivaille's tightly. They laid in content silence for a moment.

"What do you think of that…person?" Rivaille asked Eren quietly.

"Eh?" Eren turned his body so that it was parallel to the ceiling. "He's…strange, that's for sure."

He admitted. "But at the same time-increasingly familiar."

"The knives that he used were made of the same metal as our blades-I think they were melted down." Rivaille confessed.

"..Then, do you think that he lured other soldiers here and took their blades?"

"Ate them, to be honest."

"But, Rivaille." The other could feel him shifting awkwardly. "If he wasn't a bad person-"

"People who eat other people-unless they're doing it for pure _fun_-which is sick-they don't think that they're the bad people at all. They think that what they're doing is _right_."

Eren paused for a moment. "Then-if his situation was _normal_."

"Yes, continue?"

"What other explanation would make sense for his knives?"  
"That they were his?" Rivaille quirked his eyebrow; this was getting confusing.

Eren grinned, and Rivaille could see his flashing eyes in the growing dark. "Look what I found when you were pinning him to the wall." With a bit of rustling, he produced a dark mass of cloth, and threw it at Rivaille.

Rivaille caught it awkwardly, flapping it open. It was a Recon Corps cloak, the green velvet fabric supple against his fingers. There was an embossed name on the inside, and Rivaille could barely make out the letters-

_**Smith, Irvin. **_

"…..Is it just me, or do we keep finding random things of missing people?." Rivaille's laugh was choked, and Eren saw him clutch the fabric tighter. "All these years…all these fucking years…and that bastard was right under our noses."

"What did happen to Irvin, anyway?" Eren asked quietly.

Rivaille turned to look at him. "He was sent out on a solo mission, because we didn't have enough people to spare-there was the attack at the castle-you were there, right?"

He barely waited after Eren nodded before continuing. "Hanji told him not to go-but he had to-the status of the Recon Corps was being dirtied-and the military police told us that if we couldn't come up with a way to-'kill all the fucking titans by sundown'"-Rivaille imitated a garrison's voice-"Then the king would disband the Recon Corps. And Irvin couldn't have that." He coughed.

"He went out to find a way to kill the titans on his own…and hasn't come back in two years. We thought he died." He admitted in a whisper. "But…Hanji kept refusing to believe it-and I guess, because of her, we never really believed it either.

Eren drew his hands from Rivaille's and wrapped them around his waist instead, spooning the other. "I'll protect you.." he murmured. "I'll protect you against anything.."

Rivaille didn't let himself jolt in surprise, but stiffened instead. When he felt Eren's arms slacken and his breathing grew heavier, he wiggled out of his grasp, turning himself to look at the boy instead.

_The syringe was still in the bag. _It was like a dark obsession now, Rivaille noted bitterly.

_The syringe. Imagine all the possibilities of being a titan-_

_The syringe. Killing those fucking bastards like-_

Rivaille groaned quietly, putting his hand to his head.

The syringe.

_The syringe. _

_**The syringe. **_

But he would wait until Eren was there-he owed him that much, at the least.

"...I want to protect you." Rivaille admitted, looking at Eren's sleeping face in the flickering candlelight; he threaded his fingers through his hair gently.

Innocent, Pure.

"I want to be with you forever." He bowed his head, whether in embarrassment or shame, he didn't know.

"I love you. I love you so much that-it's frightening. Because, Eren." Rivaille lifted his eyes slightly.

"I've never been in love before."

* * *

Ahah! I am done with one oneshot! *trumpets blare*

But anyway-thank you guys so much for sticking with me so far! This is going to be a long journey-I hope so, anyway. There's so many possibilities, and all that smut-

YES. I KNOW. I HAVE BEEN DENYING YOU TOO LONG. SMUT WILL COME….sometime. XD

But the oneshot that I finished is about a Mute!Eren, and Rivaille, of course.

It's called-"A white sunset in February", and I would love to hear your comments and critiques!

Thank you!

K.K

Reviews will make a Neko Eren-wait, what?!


	26. Chapter 26

The morning brought a headache to Rivaille, a pounding, consistent one that made his head spin and hurt. He lay on the bed, a arm slung over his eyes; the sun was way to fucking cheerful. Someone turn the brightness down. Eren was worried, looking at him from the other side of the room. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Brat." Rivaille sighed. "It feels like a fucking titan's pounding in my head screaming Rivaille over and over and over and there are a thousand Mikasa Ackermans yelling about how I took away their beautiful-'Eren', and Hanji's laugh is echoing on and on and on and I think that I'm going insane." He said it all in one breath, gritting his teeth all the way through.

"…Oh." Eren timidly got up and felt his forehead. "You're burning up slightly…"

"Bullshit." Rivaille snapped. "I never get sick."

**Later**

"I'm sick.." Rivaille groaned, head resting against Eren's shoulder. The other had to carry him to the rickety table that served their breakfast, some berries along with a strange collection of spiky fruit that Rivaille had never seen before but tasted suspiciously sweet-(Lychee, apparently. But it sounded like leeches) and some jerky that Rivaille had seen drying yesterday. After a while of silent eating-well, for Rivaille it was more like shut up and stay quiet-Their strange host looked at them curiously, pointing at Rivaille "You need mint." He declared, and Rivaille squinted at the finger. "You need to file your nails-they're filthy." He muttered back.

Eren gulped and hastily said-"Is there any place where I can find any?"

"Actually-" The stranger stood up. "I think I have some, right here." He walked over to a small, worn out hole in the wall that ivy was beginning to crack, snaking its treadles around the adobe.

He uncovered a plant that was blocked by a mound of dirt, and lovingly blew on it, watching as the crumpled leaves furled back to life.

It was a vibrant green, and Eren swore he could smell winter across the small kitchen.

Rivaille's eyes-which were mere slits before, opened a crack. Could he smell it too?

"What is this?" Eren murmured, practically inhaling the scent.

"Mint." The stranger said in surprise. "Didn't I tell you?"

"No, mint is brown, and has little veins running through it." Eren said in surprise.

"It tastes like shit run over." Rivaille helpfully added.

"…Oh." The stranger shrugged. "This is mint, so if you want some.." He plucked a leaf off.  
"Mint is a weed too, so it'll grow practically anywhere. Here." He handed them a small root from the base of the plant. "Plant this, and you'll have mint all year round."

Eren took it, staring at the leaf in reverence and awe. "…Thank you." The boy stammered. "I don't know how I can thank you enough.." he held it for a moment longer, until Rivaille's patience snapped.

"Eren. I'm practically thirty, and I have a pounding headache. I can't wait any longer. Give me the fucking plant."

Eren looked at it before reluctantly handing it to Rivaille. Rivaille was about to pop it in his mouth, when he saw Eren's face, which was like a puppy's, eyes wide and pleading silently for a chance to try the plant. "Do you have any more of this, mister?" Rivaille eloquently asked the stranger, the throbbing in his temple becoming ever harder.

"I can spare another one." The man smiled, breaking off a leaf and giving it to Eren. "Water is scarce here, so that's why."

Eren eagerly put the leaf in his mouth, chewing. There were small hairs on the tip of the leaf, which gave it a strange furry texture. The veins of the leaf were tough, but after you bit it down, there was the release of a cold flavor, and Eren swore that if he tested the temperature of his breath, it would be cold.

To Eren, it was like experiencing the cold bitterness of winter again.

The sweet pine cone sap that he, Armin, and Mikasa once shared, huddled under the shade of a overhanging cart, and feeling the cold nectar slowly lose shape under his tongue and bursting with the flavor of spun sugar glass

The soft breath of snowflakes that landed gently on your eyelashes but melted before you could blow them away,

The warmth of the knitted red scarf that his mother gave him, so long ago that he had almost forgotten.

Maybe that was why winter was his favorite season.

It reminded him of his mother.

Rivaille sighed in heavenly relief after the mint had slipped down his throat. Honestly, he hadn't expected it to work, but it was like a freezing 'slow down' to his brain, and the rapid thoughts that were plaguing him-

About going back

About Irvin

About the people following him who he's noticed for a long time but never told Eren-

And the syringe, promising powers beyond his wildest dreams.

It was like the whole word was moving in slow motion, and Rivaille could only stand helplessly by the brink and watch.

Watch as the world fell

Watch as the walls broke down

Watch as Eren would surely die, one day,

And it would all be Rivaille's fault.

_All his damn fault. _

So that was why he had to take the injection.

That was why he had to become a titan.

For Eren's sake, to protect him against harm and danger, so that he would save _himself_, too. Save himself from the horrible mental image of Eren's titan falling, in a slow dream-like motion like water-

And save the horrific scream that would surely follow, and save Rivaille from realizing that that sound was ripped from _his _throat, from _his _vocal chords that probably would've broken by then.

And as he looked at the boy, he realized that Eren was crying silently, a tear slipping down his cheeks.

_Crying is only for the weak. _He reached out a hand to Eren's face, wiping the tear away. _My mother was weak. _Eren's eyes opened and looked at him, and Rivaille wondered, not for the first time, how eyes could have such a brilliant, frightening color. _My father was weak. _

_Petra was weak. _

_Everyone who died was weak. _

At least, that's what Rivaille thought. But crying didn't change who you were. It merely fleshed it out, added a drop of something called _sadness _to the cauldron of soup that you are always stirring, the broth called _life._

Eren's cheek nestled in his hand gently, and in that moment, everything else fell away. It was just him and Eren, and Rivaille cursed himself.

_Shit. I've fallen hard. _The man just looked back from Eren to Rivaille, bright blue eyes wide with curiosity, and Rivaille stared back at him, fixating that eye color into his brain.

_This was Irvin. _

_Maybe? It had to be, right? _

_But his hair is gray-_

_Because of stress? _

"Hey." His voice was quiet against the empty room, but there was no echo, for the walls were mud. "You know what would be really nice to do for me?" His mind cringed at his words, but his outer demur stayed the same, face emotionless like usual.

"Yes?" The man leaned forward, and Rivaille had to force himself not to back away from the pungent smell of jerky-he didn't exactly smell like a flowerpot, either.

"Let me give you a haircut." Rivaille declared, despite the face that Eren was making at him-(shut up brat, I'm not crazy-)

"Sure, why not?" The man started to get up from his chair. "Wait-now?"

Rivaille shrugged, barely holding back the urge to rub at his temples again. While the mint has dulled his headache, it was still there, and bugging Rivaille half to death.

The man stood up awkwardly, not sure what to do. "So…where?"

"Outside." Rivaille waved his hand in the air. "So that the hair doesn't get inside. Eren." He said to the boy. "You have any broken blades?"

Eren quickly nodded, pulling the blade from its holder with a slithering, scraping sound, and Rivaille thought he saw a flash of something familiar in the man's eyes.

Rivaille took the offered weapon, twisting it in his hands. He grabbed the man's shirtsleeve-god it was rough, what fabric was this made of?-and yanked him outside. Eren made a move as to follow, but Rivaille glared at him, making a motion to stay. "Inside, brat. I don't want hair getting all over you."

Eren opened his mouth like he was about to protest, but Rivaille shot him another death threat, and Eren reluctantly sat back down at the table, mouth twisted in a pout and popping another Lychee in his mouth, then spitting it out because the skin was bitter. Rivaille smirked before closing the wooden door behind him, and ushered the man to sit down on the grass. He didn't even have to bend down that much, he was so short. He wouldn't tell anyone, not even Eren, but he liked being short sometimes.

The first strand of gray hair fell, and to Rivaille's delight and surprise, sure enough, there was a glittering gold color underneath. He kept cutting at the hair with the blade, trying to make it as gentle as possible-he wanted him to be recognizable, at least.

"You know…I used to be in love with you." He said softly, closing his eyes. "Irvin Smith. You were the one who saved me from that hellhole-what else could I do but look up to you as my hero? Actually," he mused. "I'm not sure if it was love. More like a mindless adoration, actually."

"…You weren't in love with me." The man suddenly sounded old beyond his years. "You were in love with the person I used to be. Stop pretending, _Rivaille_."

Rivaille smirked. "I knew it. You didn't lose your memory after all. Irvin. You filthy backstabbing bastard. You ran away from us, didn't you? Admit it. Hanji was heartbroken after you left. Heartbroken. I heard you guys were in a relationship?"

"…" Irvin put his head down. "I wasn't good enough for her." He admitted. "She was with child too, didn't you know?"

"Hanji was pregnant?" Rivaille's hand slipped in surprise.

"She…disposed of it." Irvin whispered. "but that was the smartest course of action-think about it! What would the son of two parents both risking their lives every day do? If we died-god knows what would happen to it. And you know as well as I do, Rivaille."

His fists clenched. "We can't ruin everything we fight for a mere baby."

Rivaille paused in his shearing for a moment, thinking. "True."

Irvin laughed bitterly. "But you and Eren don't have to worry, right? A man can't get pregnant, after all. Is that why you chose Eren? And denied Petra? You heartbreaker, you."

Rivaille gave him a playful smack on the shoulder. "No, I chose Eren because-" He paused. "He couldn't die." He said finally. _I loved him. _

"But surely you must have had some feelings with Petra." Irvin looked up at him. "You cried for her, didn't you?"

Rivaille was silent, cutting waves after waves of gray hair and watching it flutter to the grass, sink into the soil. "Maybe." He finally admitted. "But I didn't cry _for _her, I cried because her father was there-he was asking where she was-and it was then I realized that she actually had a future." He cut some more hair, seeing more of the blond strands. "She wasn't just a pawn for me to control. Her and the other people. They actually had lives. A name, a _future_. And I can't but think-if I didn't accept them into the legion, would they have lived on?"

Irvin was silent for a moment. "You know the way that I find new members. Those people that are brave enough to join the Recon Corps-they're _willing _to risk their lives and hearts just for humanity. It wasn't your fault."

"I know that!" Rivaille snapped, then paused, voice a little softer. "I know that."

"Each little life extinguished is like a whole world dying." Irvin quoted softly.

"Humanity-those ungrateful pigs!" Rivaille suddenly started sawing at his hair harder. "We die for them-they don't even care, they just care about their own safety! But-" He stopped suddenly, laughing softly. "We're hypocrites too, right? Running away."

"…I don't have anything to defend myself with." Irvin closed his eyes. "I was too scared to tell everyone that their captain was a coward. A heartless coward. A born coward."

Rivaille stayed silent, cutting his hair again. "it's quite a life you've built here for yourself. Very…homely."

"I guess." Irvin shrugged. "There's plenty of food and animals nearby-if Titans come, I know how to defend myself. And they rarely come here, anyway."

"Hn."

Irvin smiled fondly at his reaction.

"I'm glad you found Eren, Rivaille."

"…Yeah, me too."

When they were done-"Rivaille! This looks horrible!" Irvin exclaimed, looking at his face in the blade reflection. "It does not!" Rivaille snapped back, threatingly swinging his body around, leg poised and ready to deliver a kick. "Okay, okay!" Irvin raised his hands.

Rivaille scoffed and lowered it. "Are you going to tell Eren?" He asked, crossing his arms. "Make a decision now, _commander_."

"….I don't know." Irvin turned the blade so that sunlight glanced off it. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."  
"He has a right to know. You can't hide forever. And after all that you made him do-you owe him a lot, you know." Rivaille shrugged.

"…Why, Rivaille." Irvin's voice was laced with humor. "You've become awfully philosophical since the last time I saw you."

"…Shut up." Rivaille pushed a hand to his forehead. "Ah-not again."

"Do you want some more mint?" Irvin asked, worried.

"No, I'm not going to waste your supply-I think that it's the sun. I'll go back inside." Rivaille said, hand already reaching for the door.

"Rivaille!" Eren called, wringing his hands. "Are you okay?"

"Do I _look _okay?" Rivaille snapped, glaring at Eren. "…Help me to bed."

Eren hurriedly complied, and Irvin watched them go, smiling. He fingered his hair. It was shorter now, true, but his beard was still there, so he was still virtually unrecognizable.

"I got him to bed." Eren sighed, walking back into the kitchen room. "He's sleeping."

"He needs rest." Irvin reverted back to his old "hermit" personality. It was too late to tell Eren now, anyway. "Let him sleep."

Eren nodded, sinking into a chair and wincing as the hard wood dug into his back. "Sometimes I think that he's too hard on himself, you know? Always pushing-and even though he doesn't know it, he wants to protect everyone and everything, but he can't, because there's not enough of him to go around. But he tries anyway. And knowing Rivaille?" Eren chuckled. "he'll succeed."

"…" How could Eren have so much faith in someone? Maybe he really was that stupid.

Suddenly a quiet knock came on the door, and Irvin was startled, jerking up. _Who the fuck? _

"I'll…get it." He strung his words together, shakily standing up.

Eren nodded, looking at him curisouly. "Do you want me to-"

"No, no! It's fine!" Irvin hastily said, waving his hand. "I'll get it."

Eren watched him go, a perplexed expression on his face. _Why would he be so against me opening the door? Unless he-_All thought was wiped from his mind as the door opened, and a familiar voice passed through the doorway.

"Excuse me, is Eren Jaegar here?"

* * *

CLIFFHANGER MUAHAHAH

So, sorry for the late update, I KNOW I KNOW I HATE MYSELF TOO

ლ(ಠ_ಠლ)

But now, the hermit mystery is solved! *checks off box*

I have a lot of plot twists ahead, so please stick with me!

I had to take a Geometry test yesterday-I may be able to skip geometry! CHEERS TO K.K!

…If I pass. *crowd boos*

Two of the oneshots are now done! Cutlass is the second one-it's a Pirate AU, so I would love if you guys checked it out…:3 There's smut in there, so think of it as my smut dedication to you guys for sticking with me this long.

…Almost at 400 too. FOUR ONESHOTS CAN BE WON! WHOOOO!

(You will be entered in the raffle however many times you review. May the best reviewer win! Whoooooop!)

The last oneshot is a genie!Eren and a drug dealer! Rivaille-(well, the drug dealing thing was my idea, Rivaille would make a hot delinquent.)

Until next time!

Ja ne~!

K.K

Reviews make Eren and Rivaille give each other backrubs in the shower. …If there are showers….


	27. Chapter 27

"God, I smell like a fireplace!" Jean sniffed his sleeve, still wearing the cloak he got from the cult. Armin laughed. "Don't worry-we all smell the same anyway, it'll be _fine_."

"Look." Mikasa's quiet voice cut through their chatter, and she pointed to the small rickety house beyond the plains.

"Do you think there's anyone in there?" Armin breathed, reining his horse in.

"If there was, wouldn't they have been eaten by titans by now?" Jean asked.

"But the cottage is still intact."

"Let's just go check it, just in case." Mikasa nodded and rearranged herself on the saddle. "Who knows, Eren might be there."

Armin shivered slightly, at the prospect that they were _this _close to Eren, and the boy did not know it. Or did he?

When they reached the cottage, the door was half-hanging on its hinges, and Mikasa's horse started chewing on something that looked like gray hair on the grass.

"..You go." Jean brusquely said, pushing Armin forward. "But-"

"Don't worry, I trust you." He shot the smaller boy a grin, and Armin shakily nodded, hand reaching up to tap quietly at the door.

_Tap Tap _

There was a clattering sound coming from inside, and Armin suddenly had a revelation-god, what if it was another titan?!

A burly man-With a hideous haircut-opened the door, and Armin firmly said, "Excuse me, is Eren Jaegar here?"

.

When Rivaille and Eren had shown up to his haven, Irvin was ironically reminded of a poem he had heard a long time ago-

"_The last man on Earth sat alone in the room. There was a knock on the door." _

It was a horror story, he was sure.

And now, he was staring down into the eyes of Armin. The kid he always worked with for tactic plans. A kid whose eyes were so sharp they would surely detect any lie.

What was he supposed to say? What could he say?

Irvin slammed the door, putting something over it.

He hastily half ran, half walked back to Eren, grabbing the boy by the arm. "Go to your room." He snapped. "And wake up Rivaille."

"Wait, how did you-And who was at the door-"

"No time now! Go wake up Rivaille, and go out the back door. There are a few….concerns out there."

"There are no humans-"

"Just go!"

Eren took one last glance at the man, then hastily ran to the room, shaking Rivaille gently. "…Rivaille! Rivaille _Rivaille!_"

He was slapped in the face by a failing hand as Rivaille's instincts took over.

"Argh-that headache…." Rivaille moaned, rubbing his temple again.

"There's someone else at the door."

Rivaille jerked up, eyes flashing. "What?"

"There's someone else-"

"I know that!" Rivaille snapped, stumbling off the bed. "Brat. Give me that extra cloak on the floor."

And Eren realized that two cloaks lay side by side. One was labeled as **Smith, Irvin **

And strangely, the other one was nameless. But there were never cloaks without any names-

Eren's train of thought was cut off as he watched Rivaille hastily assemble his shoes, battered cloak hiding the worst of his ripped clothes.

"Brat." He looked Eren straight in the eye. "Do you trust me?"

"Y-Yes!" Eren cried, hands almost coming to his salute, but then stopped halfway through. What was he doing now, pledging to the king?

"Do you want to keep looking for your father?" Rivaille breathed, coming even closer.

"Yes." His voice was resolute.

"Do you want to go to the ocean?" Rivaille was so close now, their noses were almost touching.

Instead of answering, Eren kissed him instead, and Rivaille paused for a second in shock, then kissed back for a moment, pushing Eren away. "Pack up. We're leaving."

"What?! Why-"

"You said you trusted me!" Rivaille snapped. "Let's go!"

Eren hurriedly stuffed the rest of his clothes in, and followed Rivaille. The door was being banged on now, and the frame was trembling against the weight of everything the man had piled on it.

Rivaille nodded tensely to him. "Goodbye, Irvin."

"Irvin-what-Rivaille-" Eren looked back and forth, spluttering.

"Not now, idiot!"

"Open the door!" A voice roared, and Eren stood shock still in the middle of the room. "Jean…Rivaille, it's Jean out there!"

"Jean is dead!" Rivaille snapped harshly, shaking him. "Jean is _dead_-you're obviously imagining something!"

"I'm not!" Eren cried. "Jean is alive! I heard his voice!"

The sound of his declaration was enough to cut through the dim of the rattle, and suddenly, the banging stopped.

"Eren?"

"Mikasa?!"

A horrifying silence, then the door was banged down, and Mikasa stood there looming in the doorway, a death glare at Rivaille and Eren. "You short _bastard_, if you fucking did anything to Eren, _I will kill you_." And even Eren shivered at her gaze-he had never see her this mad before. "Mikasa!"

Rivaille's eyes darted back and forth from them to him and Eren. _They had horses. He and Eren couldn't run. They would be caught up to far too easily. _

Without thinking, he swept Eren up in his arms, and bolted out the broken back door of the cottage. Eren struggled. "Put me down! Mikasa and Armin are back there! We need to go back!"

Rivaille didn't listen to him, running even faster as he heard the beginning neighs of the horses.

"We need to go back!" Eren's fingers snarled his cloak and shook it, but Rivaille didn't care.

"Rivaille!"

"Eren." Rivaille snapped. "Do you trust me?"

"..Yes."

"Then shut up!"

Rivaille narrowed his eyes as his ears picked up the sharp thumps of horse gallops. Time to see if the gear he repaired would really work.

He shot an overhanging line into a tree, quickly concealing himself and Eren with the cloak.

In three seconds, Mikasa, Armin, and Jean had reached their concealment spot and were startled to see no Rivaille and Eren.

"Their footsteps stop here, so something must've happened." Mikasa explains, steering her horse over to the prints.

"Could they have gone on trees or something?"

"Or hid behind a bush." Armin reasoned. "Usually, people jump off their tracks and into bushes so that it looks like they were taken."

Rivaille snickered as he heard mumbling footfalls behind them. "Oh, we were taken."

"GUWWARRRGHHHHHH!" A titan head emerged from the trees, and Armin shrieked in fear-this was the biggest they'd seen so far, minus the colossal titan.

Rivaille took that moment to escape, swinging from tree to tree with his gear. Eren was frozen in shock, mouth still half open-trying to utter the syllables _Mikasa, Armin, Jean, _but no matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't come.

The titan came closer to Mikasa and Armin, breathing heavily, and a gigantic hand came to grab them. This wasn't an abnormal-thank goodness, but it was still huge.

Eren could see the beginning of a horrifying fight starting to take place, and Armin screamed at Mikasa-"Go, go, go! Find Eren! Jean and I will handle this!"

_Any other person would have protested. _Rivaille hissed inwardly. _But what does she do? Nod, and leave her friend and comrade just for the sake of Eren.  
That fucking __**bitch**__. _

Mikasa's horse ran past them, and the titan's head swivled, but Jean let out a truly impressive yell, and swung himself upward-he had no gear-and climbed up the titan's arm, lithe body evading all attacks the titan made.

For a moment, Rivaille was frozen, then he shook his head and went deeper into the sparse grove of trees, running further away from Mikasa. The girl cursed and headed into the forest too, some sixth sense telling her that this is where Eren had gone.

When Rivaille had deemed them far away enough, Eren leapt up hastily on the tree branch that they were resting on-almost resulting in toppling over before Rivaille extended a lazy hand and caught him.

"You-you-you-" Eren was at loss for words.

"You have questions." Rivaille said simply, closing his eyes. "I'll try my best to answer them." _Eren deserved that much, at least. _

"….Why?" Eren whimpered. "Why?"

"..." Rivaille turned his head. _Why did he run from Eren's friends at all? To tell the truth, any other person would've said to bring them along, they could help-_"I want you all to myself." He stated briskly.

"….!" Eren raised up a trembling hand, as if to slap him, but he lowered it at the last moment. Rivaille grasped that arm while it was still up, glaring at the boy.

"No, hurt me." Rivaille hissed, looking at Eren. "Punch me, kick me, slap me, all you want. Get it out of your fucking system already. You've been holding that urge in for almost ten years now, right?"

"…I can't." Eren mumbled, face collapsing. "I can't."

Rivaille let go of his arm slowly, and watched as the boy wrapped them around himself, making a tiny cocoon. "…Irvin?" He said finally.

"Irvin has a thin scar on his neck, right here." Rivaille explained, touching his Adam's apple.

"You found it when you were pinning him to the wall, right?"

Rivaille nodded quietly.

They sat there in silence for moment, and then Eren said, in a voice that almost made his heart break-

"Let me talk to Mikasa. _Please_."

* * *

A QUICK UPDATE FOR ONCE! Whoo, let's cheer K.K on!

So, since the last chapter was really cruel, I decided to update quicker-with a shorter chapter, but quicker nevertheless, right? Eh? Eh? :D

Anyway…

That's all, I guess. ^^

Until next time!

K.K

Reviews make Eren teach Rivaille how to make cupcakes.


	28. Chapter 28

_Why the fuck had he decided to do this?_ Rivaille found himself nodding numbly, ushering Eren forward as the shock-still figure of Mikasa looked at them in surprise. Then suddenly, she was off her horse, running at Eren with outstretched arms. Eren met her halfway, and spun her around in the air, smiling and laughing. "Mikasa!"

"Eren! What did he do to you?" Her voice was fierce, and she untangled herself from his arms, putting a iron pair of hands on his shoulders instead. "What did he do!? Tell me, and I'll kill him!"

"Nothing!" Eren said in surprise. "It's fine, Mikasa."

"Brat." Rivaille said sharply. "Get on with it."

Eren shot him a quick glare, then hugged Mikasa again. "Mikasa…" He breathed. "I finally get to see you again.." Rivaille tightened his grip on his remaining blade.

"Eren. Wherever you go, I will follow." Her voice was firm. "If he threatened or hurt you, you could've told me."

"..Ah." Eren sheepishly grinned. "Well, that is…"

"He threatened to do something, didn't he?" Mikasa cried. "I knew it!"

"Mikasa! I came of my own free will!"

Rivaille jerked upright against the tree trunk that he was leaning against. _What? _

"…Eren. Don't lie."

"I'm not lying!" Eren's eyes were defiant. "I came. On. My. Own."

_"If you don't come, I'll hurt your friends." Rivaille growled, pressing his blade against Eren's throat. "You know I can." _

_What? _

_Why was Eren lying now? _

"I came on my own, Mikasa." Eren repeated, sighing. "No one forced me."

Her eyes narrowed. "No matter how selfish this sounds-I don't think that you would go on your _own_, leave Armin and me-just to explore the outside with this guy!" She cried, motioning to Rivaille. His eyebrow twitched in irritation. Who did this bitch think she was?

"….I had reasons." Eren said shortly, looking away from her accusing gaze.

"Say goodbye, brat." Rivaille's voice cut lowly through their conversation. "We're going."

"You aren't." Mikasa growled, sliding her blade out and standing in a defensive posture, shoving Eren behind her. "Mikasa!" He said, some irritation in his voice. "I thought I told you-I'm not some child for you to protect!"

"You want to go, demon?" Rivaille hissed. "Let's go." He drew his blade out too.

"Eren would never chose you!" Mikasa screamed, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself. "He would chose his family over anything else!"

"You-" Rivaille roared, swinging his blade forward. Mikasa met it with a deft parry, and they both glared at each other, each not giving an inch.

Eren pulled on Mikasa's arm desperately. "Mikasa, I-"

"Stay out of this, Eren." She shot back, still facing Rivaille. Eren reeled back in shock.

He wasn't weak.

He wasn't some fucking pansy that people could fight over without even giving a care to his own feelings.

He wasn't stupid. He wasn't a idiot, and he knew that something was up with "Irvin" even before Rivaille had told him.

Why did everyone keep treating him like a foolish, naïve child who knew nothing?

"_Listen!" _Eren roared, gritting his teeth. "_I choose! It's my own decision! _Mikasa." He yanked her back. "You have no right to assume who I would choose. And you!" He pointed a shaking finger at Rivaille. "I've done what you've said in the past, because it was beneficial for humanity and myself! But you have no right either, to order me around like a _cow!_" Rivaille and Mikasa looked surprised at his outburst. Eren took a shaking breath. "Mikasa, I love Rivaille."

"No-"

"Can you listen?" He said harshly. He closed his eyes and rubbed his head against his temples. "_I love Rivaille. _Romantically." Eren added as an afterthought, and Rivaille almost spluttered in laughter at Mikasa's face, if this wasn't such a dire situation.

"…I see." Mikasa said quietly. "But-" She looked at Eren with pleading eyes. "Take me with you. Please. So that I know that you're safe, wherever you are."

"What about Armin and Jean?" Rivaille hissed. "You bitch, are you just going to _leave _them there?"

"Jean's with Armin, and Armin's crazy smart. Besides.." She looked down. "I think they have...mutual feelings. I would be a bother."

_What the fuck about us, then?! _Rivaille inwardly screamed. _No more convenient sex when we want it…no more walking around naked and knowing that no one would care…no jacking off or getting horny either! The minute Eren walks out of her sight, she pounces. _

"….No." Rivaille glared. "Eren, your childhood friend is _not _coming with us."

Eren looked at him, pleading. "But-"

"She can go back with Armin and Jean." Rivaille played the last card. "If you go with her, I'll leave."

Mikasa glared at him, then used her ace. "Eren, you promised you would never leave me."

Eren was stuck. His head was pounding. "Can't we all get along?" He asked timidly.

"No!" two voices roared in simulation. Rivaille and Mikasa each shot horrified looks at each other, each imagining the other with them and _Eren. _

**Mikasa's imagination-**

"Here Eren, do you want me to help you-"

"No!" Rivaille snatched Eren from her, wiping Eren's face with a clean tissue he produced out of nowhere. "Eren wants me to clean him, right?"

**Rivaille's imagination-**

"Ah-Rivaille-_fuck me now._" Eren breathed, twining his fingers in Rivaille's hair. "I want you-" he gasped.

Rivaille slowly started to strip Eren's shirt off, sliding the sleeves down his shoulders. He had a rising erection, and he was _ready_-when-"Eren! I've been looking all over for you!"

Mikasa burst out of the bushes, hair tangled. "Where have you been?" She paused, looking at them for a moment. "…Eren?"

Rivaille screamed in frustration. God dammit, what _now?! _

~X~  
"….No." Rivaille grumbled. "Absolutely, horrifyingly, no." Mikasa gritted her teeth and glared at him, and Rivaille stubbornly glared back-who did she think she was?

Rivaille tugged on Eren's arm. "Eren. You wanted to go to the ocean, right?" He said softly.

Mikasa grabbed Eren's other arm-she wasn't going to give up. "Eren." She breathed. "With me here, we'll all be together again. Like old times. Before the wall. I can protect you."

"So can I!" Rivaille snapped-he was getting thoroughly tired.

Eren closed his eyes. "I don't know. Maybe I should just go on alone."

"Don't fucking kid with me." Rivaille rolled his eyes. "You would die the minute you step outside this forest."

That was the wrong thing to say, apparently. Eren grimaced and yanked his arm back-(Mikasa smiled in triumph)"I don't need you to protect me. I'm _fine_."

Rivaille opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. "Please." Was all he said. "Please, Eren. Talk with me."

"…" Eren moved towards him, shaking Mikasa off, but she followed anyway, looking wary.

_"Alone." _Rivaille growled. Eren nodded at Mikasa, who still looked worried, and followed Rivaille into a dense cluster of trees, wondering where the other was going.

When Rivaille was sure that Mikasa couldn't see them, he stopped, whirling around to face Eren. "Do you know what this means?"

"Rivaille." Eren patiently said. "Don't be jealous."

"It's not that!" Rivaille snapped, voice frenetic. "We won't go as fast with her tagging along-"

"I hate to say it, but Mikasa is stronger and faster than I am. Why would you drag me along, then?"

_I don't like her. _Rivaille wanted to say. _I don't like the fact that she's coming with us-on __**our **__journey-maybe it's just jealousy, after all. _

"..Do what you want." Rivaille finally mumbled. "I'm going."

"What?" Eren stared at him in disbelief. "Rivaille, be serious." He sighed.

Rivaille knew very well that he was acting strangely childish today-but he didn't care. _He wanted Eren all to himself._

"I'll go on alone. But Eren-what about your father?"

"That's the reason I'm still going." Eren admitted. "It might be hopeless-but I want to see my father again."

"Leave Mikasa." Rivaille breathed. "Leave her, and come with me."

"I can't do that."

_"I can't do that." Eren looked at him. "You know I can't." _

But unlike last time, Rivaille couldn't threaten to harm Mikasa and Armin-the same trick wouldn't work twice. "…Then what?" He hated how his voice sounded so pleading-god dammit, he was supposed to be strong-not beg. Rivaille didn't beg.

"…She can travel along with us." Eren finally said. "We'll get extra protection too, am I right?"

"No!" Rivaille cried, thoroughly fed up. "That's exactly what we've been arguing about!"

"Besides, she wouldn't leave me, even if I told her. The only times that that's happened was in a battle-and even then, she was closer. Rivaille, she left _Hanji _and the Recon squad to come after us. What makes you think she'll give up?"

"I'll talk to her." Rivaille stumbled out of the grove, walking as if in a dream. "I'll talk to her." He uselessly repeated.

Eren looked at him reluctantly, then sighed and followed the other back to where Mikasa was waiting, blades still poised.

"I want to talk to you!" Rivaille barked, standing straight-although he still wasn't tall enough, god dammit.

"Yes, sir!" Mikasa said-god, old habits did die hard.

Rivaille grabbed her sleeve and yanked her towards the same clearing, and as Eren watched them go, he groaned aloud, putting his head in his hands.

Dear god, please let them both come out alive.

"Why won't you leave Eren?"

"Why won't _you _leave him?" Mikasa retorted.

"I-you know." Rivaille sighed.

"Well, I love him too."

"Not in that way!"

"Maybe I do-does that even matter? Love is love."

"I promise." Rivaille leaned against a tree trunk. "I'll take care of Eren."

"…I can't trust that."

"God dammit, I've taken care of him so far, haven't I?"

"But-"

"If Eren's titan goes on a rampage again-_I'm the one who can stop him._ And who knows-you might get injured in the process too."

"At least I'll know that Eren's safe."

"What good will it do him if you die?"

"I won't die." Mikasa breathed. "I won't die- for Eren's sake."

"I heard about your little-thing-from Armin. Just because Eren was presumed dead, you dropped everything-just for him? What about Armin? Don't you even care about that boy?"

"I do!" Mikasa cried. "I just…wasn't thinking straight."

"So." Rivaille said, raising an eyebrow. "If I showed you Eren's dead body, right now, are you telling me that you won't go jump off into a river?"

"…" Mikasa stayed quiet. Ten years ago, she would've said _no_, without a dobut, but now, she wans't so sure.

"I can't leave him." She said quietly. "He's the only family I've got."

"You have Armin."

"Are you suggesting that he's a mere substitute?!" Mikasa snapped, tone harsh.

"No. But now, I'm his family too."

"…I can't." She said hopelessly. "I can't."

"I love Eren." Rivaille explained. "I love him so much that I would jump off a fucking river for him-okay, maybe not that literally-but, Mikasa." He put a cautious hand on her shoulder.

_"You're not the only one who cares about Eren." _

Her head was down, strands of hair covering her face. "….I have to protect him. His mother entrusted me with that."

_"Mikasa. Come to live with our family." Eren. Eren. **Eren.**_

_"Here...you can have my scarf."_**  
**

_"I'm not your little brother, or someone for you to protect!" _

_Eren wanted to be independent, on his own. Eren is...strong. _Mikasa realized. _I've just been covering up everything with my personal feelings-why? Why can't I let him go? _

"…And here, I'll take that burden." Rivaille said quietly.

_Why can't I let him be happy, to be with the person he loves the most? The person you are smiling to now, Eren, is not me. _

_For Eren's happiness-which I've always fought so blindly for-I never considered the fact that the source of his joy could be something other than me. _

_There will be a day, you say,  
where the world stops and all that ever was  
and all there ever will be would cease._

** _Trust._**

_There will be a time, he says,_  
_when I will no longer love like how_  
_you built the moon for me, balancing_  
_upon a staircase of wooden boxes._

_** Trust.**_

_You didn't care. You let him weave_  
_with string, then with your soul,_  
_your heart the ball of yarn at the end._

** _Trust in him._**

**You are a lover. You are a fool.* **

_But I loved you anyway, blinded by everything in front of my eyes, and selfishly keeping you here. Maybe it is time to grow up. _

**_Trust in him. _**

"…You have to promise me that you'll take care of him." Mikasa's voice broke. "Promise."

"I promise." Rivaille closed his eyes, hearing Mikasa's shaky breath. "…Do me one more favor, okay?" she asked quietly.

**_Trust in him._**

"What?"

"Tell Eren that I'm not going to be his sister anymore." Mikasa proclaimed. "I want him to see me as an equal-a friend, not family."

_**Trust in him. **_

"Will do." Rivaille promised, half-smiling.

Mikasa nodded, closing her eyes. "Then…I'll go."

_**Trust in him. **_

Rivaille's eyes softened, and he nodded back, quietly acknowledging the girl. And together, a safe distance apart, they walked back to the clearing where Eren was waiting.

* * *

*-Honey Stars, by Nicole

…I hope I didn't ruin Mikasa's character. To be honest, I don't hate her. I actually think that she's a really strong character in the SnK series-but one thing about her that really pisses me off is that she just has to be perfect at every little thing she does. If that doesn't scream-Mary Sue, I don't know what does. But her personality balances it out, so I guess she's not too bad. At first, I was planning on Mikasa coming with Rivaille and Eren, but then that would be too complicated and ruin all the scenes that I had planned for them..so…yeah. ^^" Sorry, Mikasa fans.

I finished the last oneshot! Whoo! It's a genie!Eren and Drugdealer!Rivaille fanfic-but I was surprised at the ending that I wrote..so..yeah! It's called Lamps of Reincarnation, and I would love it if you guys checked it out!

Anyway, WE BROKE 400 REVIEWS OMFG I KEEP ON BEING SURPRISED EACH TIME. Anyway, the winners of the oneshots areeeeeee…..

**KittyKatsKanLoveYaoi**

**Hibarilova18**

**The Fujioshi **

And…

**FrozenEmpire-FlowerGarden**

I'll PM you guys for the prompt themes! ^^ (god I'm killing myself slowly, aren't I?) But all of you who take time out of your day to review-thank you all so much-I can't express how much your comments and fangirling mean to me…I love you all! *big virtual hug*

Until next time!

K.K

Reviews make Eren and Rivaille take showers and baths together. *watches through hidden camera while holding nosebleed*


	29. Chapter 29

"So…this is it." Eren's soft voice cut through the thick silence that was overhanging them.

"…Hm." Jean breathed, not looking at him-as if his face was too much of a reminder of everything to gaze upon.

"Eren." Armin pleaded again. "Come back with us."

Eren opened his mouth, then hesitated and shook his head. "…Sorry, Armin. I have responsibilities."

Rivaille merely nodded, not looking at either of the soldiers that he himself had once so proudly commanded.

"Do me a favor, Rivaille." Irvin suddenly said, looking at the short man.

"..Yes?" Rivaille raised an eyebrow, curious despite himself.

"…" Irvin dug for something in his pocket, then emerged with a sculpted wooden carving. It was a horse. Well, more of a horse-fish, Rivaille reasoned, taking the small figure in his hands. And as he held it up to the sunset, he noticed that it was glowing with a faint light-a halo of quicksilver, but as Rivaille reflected back on that time later, he concluded that it was the futile product of his own imagination. "What do you want me to do?"

"Throw it in the ocean." Irvin decided firmly; the tone of his voice suggested that he had been thinking of this for a long time. "So that I can somehow place my mark there-forever."

Rivaille chuckled bitterly, gently placing the figure in his knapsack. "Nothing lasts forever, Irvin."

"Eternity." Eren suddenly piped up. "Hm?" Rivaille looked at him in question.

"That's something that can happen, right?"

"..Eternity and forever are the same things, brat."

"No-" Eren cut him off. "Forever is time that never ends. Eternity is _forever _to you-yourself. Everyone has a different feeling and conception of that."

Rivaille didn't say anything, just looked down at the gritted ground, speckled with dark drops of the titan's blood. Armin's hair was caked with gore, and Jean didn't look any better, cloak soaked with the dark liquid.

"Then, Irvin." The man turned to face him. Rivaille smiled sadly. "You have to do something for me."

"Yes?"

"…Go back to Hanji. Get married. Have kids. Be happy, for me." Rivaille drew a deep breath. "I wish you the best."

Irvin laughed softly. "You're talking like we'll never see each other again-" He stopped. "Wait. You will come back, right?"

"I-" Rivaille didn't say anything more, just looked down. "I don't know."

"….I understand." Irvin said after a long moment. Then-"I wish you the best of luck, too." Irvin held out his hand to Rivaille, and the corporal took it, feeling the familiar grip that still hadn't changed after all these years. He used to count on that feeling to keep him sane-when he was half delirious with fear and grief through those early days-thinking that he was _alone_-that no one would _understand. _

"Rivaille." Eren said softly, as Rivaille let go of Irvin's handshake and turned to face him.

"We're going, brat." Rivaille snapped.

"….." To his surprise, Mikasa walked up to Rivaille and unwound her scarf, handing it to him "This is yours now." She said quietly, not looking at the man.

"Keep it, Mikasa." Rivaille deftly returned, handing her the bundle of cloth. "This is yours to keep."

Mikasa gulped, taking a deep, shuddering breath. But she nevertheless took the offered fabric, clutching it closely to her chest.

Rivaille started walking further on into the forest, not looking back.

"…Goodbye." Eren choked out, before running away after the smaller figure.  
Armin and Jean waved, but as soon as they were out of sight, Armin started sobbing, and Mikasa watched as Jean hesitantly pulled him closer, wrapping the cloak around the smaller boy.

She looked at Irvin, only to find a serene smile on the older man's face.

And as she took in the scene, turned to see the empty forest path, she didn't feel seventeen.

She felt eight again, feeling Eren wrap that impossibly warm scarf around her neck, see him smile at her with gleaming eyes that shone on someone else now.

Her eyes watered, and for the first time in forever-she let herself _cry_, not feeling the wetness that dribbled off her cheeks and into the wet grass, but painfully acknowledging the fact that despite what she tried-she was still human to the core. Somewhere inside, a small child knelt, holding the brim of a overlarge summer hat, and smelling the warm scent of dirt and sun, watching her mother as she hummed happily while pulling potatoes out of the ground.

_Goodbye, Eren. _

Armin looked on in surprise as Mikasa started choking and coughing, a strange combination that somehow made sense at that moment. Her eyes were half closed, squinted against the blazing sunset, and shallow breaths kept moving through her throat, in and out in and out and in and out again-and tears would keep falling off her cheeks, but she made no move to wipe them away.

Armin hesitantly held took her hand, rubbing soothing rings on it like he'd seen his father do when his mother was feeling sad or sick. She looked in surprise at him,

then, to Armin's surprise-

Started crying harder.

~X~

_Mikasa's POV_

I thought of you again,

yesterday.

Staring out at the window that was coated with a fine screen of early dew; trickling down the cold glass-

somehow, I thought-

Maybe, if I touch it-

I'll see your face again.

.

There have been times, I admit, when we both fought.

For the sake of my childish superiority-

you went along with a gentle smile on your face.

Where we both swore not to talk,

when I ignored you with a foolish and triumphant stubbornness,

You just laughed quietly and held my hand.

.

I always thought-

Someone who makes you laugh that hard-

who makes you smile so much that your face might freeze that way-

Surely they get the benefit of doubt, right?

.

Hey, you know?

You gave my pathetic life meaning.

The soft angelic light that glowed in the room shone,

only for you.

.

Once, we both had a beautiful dream of an eternal forever.

Where did that naive hope go?

"We'll be together forever."

Linking pinkies together and running out into that dark street, we laughed like there was no tomorrow.

.

I wanted to make that time sincere-

Because, you, who had grown up already, knew-

anyone can just string painful words along and slap on a label called emotion.

.

"I realized yesterday,"

You began, sighing.

"Even if you pick up the fallen petals, that beautiful flower will never bloom again."

You duck your head against the cold winter air.

That small death on your hands-has your time frozen still?

.

The sky glowed through the trees with a soft light-

laughing for all the eternity that cried.

When we both danced to that Tarantella of separation.

Now I can't stop wondering-

_If I hadn't pretended to be strong, would everything have been fine?_

_._

You gave me that scarf, remember?

When you did, I felt like I had everything in the world.

But somehow-did you know that you weren't coming back?

Is that why you smiled so sadly?

.

And that story that we listened to-

Me laughing along in the bright sun-

You quietly humming with a smile-

We still laughed together, yeah?

At that moment, I thought-

_This kind of happiness should be illegal._

.

You made the world round, so that no one would cry in a corner, didn't you?

And even now, you lament tearfully that there's nothing that you can do anymore.

.

My head resting on the corner of your bed, I closed my eyes.

"I used to believe that crying was only for the weak, and that only the strong could survive."

I admitted, feeling so pathetically human in that moment.

Your hand ghosted the top of my hair in a movement that could've been classified as _affectionate._

Those brilliant red ribbons that marked our time together-

have become dull and faded now.

* * *

The things that had hurt me to much in the past seem childish now.

_Is this what it means to grow up?_

YES YES YES THIS IS A REALLY SHORT CHAPTER. QAQ I know that it's disappointing, that you basically learned no plot moving details-but I just wanted to take a step back and reflect on the character's emotions and other things-(yes I know, you guys have permission to hit me with shoes now.) *cowers in a corner*

BUT I HAVE AN OMAKE! *holds up white flag*

**Omake-PARODY PARODY PARODY ALERT **

**Slight mention of HakuXZabuza **

**Slight RivailleXEren **

**Naruto! And SnK! Crossover! :3**

"Argh!" Rivaille fell out of the titan's mouth-which had grown suspiciously slack. He had slipped for a second, lost his concentration in battle-which he never did, so something must've been in the coffee that Hanji slipped him that morning-wait. Why would he ever take a drink from Hanji?

"Oof!" He felt a weight on his back, and whipped around, only to see Eren's mussed hair appear behind him. And as he looked up for the titan-_it was gone. _There was no titan. And as he looked around in suspicion, all the trees of the forest were gone too-nothing was here except for mist and something that felt like concrete beneath his boots."Brat?!"

"Corporal!" Eren cried, trying to stand up straight and brushing strands of grass quickly off his back. Grass? There was no grass here. The only grass was back in the forest-

"Eren! Why the fuck are you here?"

"…I was worried." Eren admitted. "So I…climbed in the titan's mouth after you-"

"Isn't that how you got 'eaten' last time?" Rivaille snapped, eyebrows furrowing. "Climbing in and throwing that blond kid out?"

"Hey! I didn't die, did I?"

"That's beside the point!" Rivaille exclaimed. "Wait-" Eren breathed, raising a hand. "I think I hear something."

"….Without someone to live for, who are you, really?" A muffled, soft voice spoke. Rivaille and Eren crept towards that source of voice, and saw a brown haired girl, mask half on her face-wait, how the fuck did the mask stay there-and a blond person who was dressed in outrageous colors, on all fours. "Keep that up kid, and you'll be stuck in that position forever." Rivaille hissed quietly.

"I was his tool." The girl continued. "But now-" She closed her eyes. "I've failed him. So, Naruto-kun," She opened her eyes. "Kill me."

"This is fucked up!" Eren screamed, and Rivaille hastily slapped a hand over his mouth. "Why would she want to die on _purpose?! _All the titans out there could kill her in a second! Live!" He ripped Rivaille's hand away. "Live, and live on! This world is still sweet!" He wailed-

the girl stiffened and turned slightly. "Who's there?"

"Live! The world still needs you! You are not useless!" Rivaille gritted his teeth. It was too late to stop Eren now.

"…but, I've failed-"

"Titans could eat you! Live now! In this moment!" Wow, Eren was really getting into it, wasn't he?

"Live!" He cried again. "And never look back!"

"brat, that doesn't make sense-"

"You're such a pretty girl too, you have to grow up and have all my children!"  
Rivaille's eyebrow twitched-what the fuck?!

"No!" A low voice echoed through the space-hell, Rivaille didn't even know where he was-

"Haku is mine-"

"Master Zabuza!" The girl cried, looking panicked. "I'm sorry! I have failed you-"

Wait. Za-bu-zaba? Zu-zu.

The blond idiot was still crouching there, looking bemused.

(um, this is the parody part-if you don't like parody, and you love the Haku dying moment in Naruto-if you guys have watched it, don't read this part. THIS IS HORRIBLE WRITING QUALITY, just warning you!)

With a great slash of his mighty sword, Zabuza killed Naruto and Sasugay-Rivaille helped take down Kakashi-even though he had no idea what was going on-

And Haku decided to live again, because he still had to help Zabuza get dressed every day-those bandages were a pain to put on-

And finally, when they were about to go, Haku turned to face them, smiling.

"By the way, I'm a guy."

Eren fainted and Rivaille was sure he would never be the same again when he woke up and started blabbering something about-Am I gay!?

They all lived happily ever after.

The end.

Never mind, I think you guys hated the OMAKE too, right?

I'm also planning on making some chapters about Irvin and Hanji's past-YES I SHIP THEM. *sobs harder* EVEN THOUGH THEY BARELY HAVE ANY INTERACTION IN THE MANGA-*heroic pose* I WILL WRITE THE FIRST HANJI IRVIN FANFICTION! ….None of you will read it, will you? *bangs head* I'm sorry-even though it's probably impossible..I hope they become canon. But it seems like the only canon couple now is Ymir and Christa…-.-

So, the question of the day!

**What do you guys think about Hanji X Irvin? **

Reviews will make Rivaille and Eren agree to do a BL movie together-


	30. Chapter 30

Eren whistled, the sound sharp and piercing, not to mention horridly off-tune. Rivaille winced and covered his ears. "Do you have to make that goddamn noise, brat?"

Eren sheepishly grinned. "Well, you're just so quiet-"

"If you want to give me a fucking headache-I suppose it would be best if you didn't."

"Ah." Eren stayed quiet after that, and Rivaille tilted his head back to glance at the boy, enjoying the fresh smell of his cloak-they had passed a stream, and Rivaille'd insisted that they wash up.

Neither of them mentioned Mikasa or Armin-Jean and Irvin too, for that matter.

It would only be harder to continue going forward, in fact-

"_You're lucky it's a clean break." The doctor murmured, fingers drifting over Rivaille's broken ankle. _

"_Why?" _

_The doctor looked up at Rivaille; he was smiling. "If it was an unclean break, like this-" He drew a lightning-like line through the air-"Then all the bones won't exactly piece together perfectly anymore. But a clean break-" He drew two flat lines. "They'll heal together a lot faster, because there's not much to fit together." _

"_Hn." Was all Rivaille said, staring out the window idly. _

This wasn't a clean break…Rivaille snorted, looking at Eren's dejected face. Asking to talk to Mikasa, going back to see Armin and Jean one last time-how was that useful at all?

A clean break. Never seeing them again.

"Aren't you worried about your father?" Rivaille murmured, not looking back at the boy.

"Eh?" Eren was visibly startled-Rivaille guessed what he was thinking about. "Y-Yeah." Eren nodded, sighing. "I don't even know if he's alive anymore."

"Do you want to look for him?"

"Aren't we looking now?" Eren pointed out, eyebrows furrowing.

"All we're doing now, brat, is walking ahead. The ocean shouldn't be that far away, actually."

"Ah.." Eren sighed in realization. "Well, I-"

"It's your choice." Rivaille suddenly stopped, and Eren looked at him in surprise. "I really don't have a purpose anymore, do I?"

"You do!" Eren indignantly said. "You do."  
"Killing titans?" Rivaille sighed. "Sure, brat. Whatever you say."

"But I think-" Eren gulped. "That dad would've gone towards the ocean."

"There might've been a scientist base somewhere around that mountain."

"But think about it, Rivaille. Back then-that trunk looked old too-there were titans roaming around everywhere. And if there was something my dad _wasn't_-it was a soldier. He can't kill titans. So, either he's-" Eren cut himself off, opening and closing his mouth. "D-dead-or he went on ahead."

"So you think that going this way is going to lead to him?"

"There's a possibility." Eren sighed.

Rivaille nodded, looking up into the leafy canopy of trees and the hints of speckled light drifting through it. "Then, lets go."

They traveled for a bit-damn, this was a huge forest-with the chirping of crickets and cicadas echoing around and around the impassive area.

"Hey, Rivaille." Eren started. The other looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Do you think that this could've been a tourist attraction, too?"

"This is too far outside the walls, brat. Even when we had more space."

"But I mean-if things were…_normal_. Do you think that this could've been an attraction?"

"Possibly." Rivaille admitted, walking on ahead.

"There are still no titans, around-are there? Did we honestly kill off this much?"

"…" Rivaille stayed silent for a moment. "No." He finally said. "Even if we did, this far outside the walls, there should be at least _some _titans. We're doing fine without horses right now-but if there were normal titans here, and many of them-say goodbye to the world, brat. We're fucked."

"That's true, isn't it?" Eren smiled at him, sad and mocking. "Levi Heichou."

Rivaille scowled. "What's with that now?"

Eren laughed, but didn't say anything.

_The syringe. _Rivaille thought suddenly, the thought bolting at him like lighting. _What do to about that? _

To tell the truth-he was scared, really, about taking it-becoming one of _them_, those huge destructive _monsters _that he himself had to kill-and what if he lost control? Like Eren once did, when he tried to kill Mikasa-what if he tried to kill Eren, and succeeded?

Rivaille wasn't one for bragging, but he _knew _that if he was faced against Eren's titan, maybe in his own titan form-he would win. Defintally, hands down.

But there were pros too-that Rivaille should consider as well, right? More power. Easier killings.

What was there to lose? Like he said before-he really didn't feel like he had a purpose anymore-the titans were almost wiped out-except for the abnormal ones that he suspected were still forming; but those could be taken care of…he fingered the cold steel circle that lay in his pocket. Mikasa and Armin had given them the last of the bombs, saying something like-"You'll need them more than we do, anyway."

"Hey, Eren." He murmured.

"Yes?" Eren looked at him, tilting his head slightly; on an offhanded thought, Rivaille wondered how eyes like that could seem like they were _sparkling_. Must be a trick of the senses he thought.

"What is it like?...Becoming a titan." He hesitantly said, ducking his head into his shoulder.

Eren frowned; he thought he had a suspicion of what Rivaille was thinking. "Dizzying." He sighed finally, pulling his arms behind his head. "Frightening." He elaborated. "It's like-there are _two _things inside of me-Eren Jaegar, and the titan. It's always inside of me, really, And there's always that part of you…" Eren trailed off, closing his eyes. "You can never get rid of it." He simply said, shrugging. "Once you're with it-it stays forever, right?"

"…Hm." Rivaille looked up at the sky, eyes half-closed. "You don't remember anything?"

"Hints. Sometimes, it's like a dream." Eren clenched his hands into fists; they were trembling slightly. "You dream, and you _know _what's going on, everything. But when you wake up-" Eren stretched out his hands. "It's gone. No matter how much you grasp for it-no matter how much you _want _to remember-it's not there anymore."

Suddenly, he grabbed Rivaille's arm; the other man was surprised, but made no move to resist-and clutched him tightly to his chest, wrapping tight arms around the smaller corporal.  
"Rivaille. Rivaille. _Rivaille. _I love you. I love you." His voice was breaking.

Rivaille slowly threaded fingers through Eren's hair, feeling the rough strands under his fingers. "I know." He breathed, a simple reply.

"Stay with me forever. Don't leave. _Right now is enough_." Eren choked out, screwing his eyes shut.

"I won't leave you." Rivaille said firmly. "Never will."

Eren laughed-half a sob, half a promise. "If only that were true.."

He slid his fingers up, cupping Rivaille's chin in his hands, admiring the way his eyelashes seemed flash silver in the dying sunlight, the gentle curve of his lip that was entrancingly beautiful in the dusk, the surprisingly pale skin of someone who spent time outside in the blazing fiery sun,

Those lidded eyes that were hypnotizing and mysterious-sheltering the many secrets that only he seemed to know.

_He was beautiful. _

"What is it, brat?" Rivaille murmured softly, leaning into Eren.

_And he was Eren's. _  
"Nothing." Eren smiled sadly and dipped his head forward, brushing his lips with the other man's.

"I love you." He breathed against his lips. "I love you."

"Will you ever stop saying that?" Contrary to his words, there was a slight curve to his lips; Rivaille was _smiling_.

_If memory is just the memory of memories _

Rivaille reached up on his toes to kiss Eren harder, feeling the taller boy against him.

_A spotty reconstruction built in half-light, _

"Hey, Rivaille."

_How can I still see rain pummeling in the walkway _

"Yes?"

_As we huddle down the stairwell after dark,_

"Please. Don't take the injection.

_While a storm spins out across the empty campus,_

_It's splashing amplified-sound and shine-_

"…How did you know?"

_The rain itself a sign, a reason to take cover_

Eren laughed softly. "Can you be more obvious?"

_With the autumn earth above us? _

"I could fight better. Get rid of the titans for once and all. More power, Eren. You don't understand."

_If all of his, clear and whole as it seems, ,_

_Is conjuring-not the night, not the storm _

"I was shackled with this, Rivaille. It wasn't my choice. It never was. I never had a choice, all along. You don't know." Eren pleaded. "Please. I beg you."

_Not your face, your wet black hair_

Rivaille didn't reply, just looking up at the sky. "Brat. It's raining."

_But the story of the story that I've told myself _

Eren glanced in the same direction, feeling a cold speck land on his nose. "So it is."

_From time to time for more than forty years_

"Rivaille." The simple word held so much.

_**I give it up. I leave it here. * **_

"Eren."

They stared at each other, human and _something_, against the rain that was pelting down.

"Don't take it, Rivaille."

Rivaille groaned, rubbing his temple. "Why are you so against me taking it?"

"I don't want you to get hurt! I don't want you to feel so goddamn _guilty _when you realize that you've done something that you didn't mean to!" Eren took a deep breath, continuing. "I don't want you to be held with the weight of humanity-it's a horrifying sensation, you know? When everything, and _everyone _is counting on you-and if it fails, it's all your goddamn fault! Being labeled as a monster-your own _species _avoiding you-tell me, how does that feel, Rivaille?"

Rivaille didn't say anything-and for the first time, Eren realized that the expression on his face was pure, and utter defeat.

"I…"

Eren didn't say anything else, waiting for Rivaille's reply.

"I…"

Rivaille hesitated, then closed his mouth again.

"_This salute means that you're giving up everything you have, for the king!" Irvin roared. "Are you sure you want to do that?" _

_Rivaille hissed at him angrily. "No, why? The king is this fat-ass idiot, sitting on-" _

_Irvin slammed his hands on the table; Hanji, who was watching by the door, winced. "The king, no matter what you think of him-he represents everything that humanity is. Are you going to turn your back on humanity?" _

"_What the fuck did humanity ever do for me?" Rivaille retorted. "Nothing! Not one goddamn thing. Do you think that if bread was handed to me every day, then I would resort to drug dealing?!" _

"_Rivaille. You don't know how it feels to be __**needed**__. To know that someone needs you, in this world. If you die, then your loss means nothing. That's what it's about. If you die, then no one will say-'oh, I wish Rivaille was here.' They would just go on with their lives! Is that what you want?!" _

"_Irvin." Hanji snapped, moving in. "Don't be that harsh on him." _

"_What else do you want me to do?!" Irvin sighed, throwing his hands up._

"_Feeling needed by humanity-" Rivaille laughed bitterly. "What a load of bullshit." _

"Rivaille?"

"_Humanity's strongest soldier!" Hanji twittered, throwing a lopsided crown made of wilted flowers onto his head. "Aren't you proud, Irvin?" _

_The man sent a small his smile his way, but Rivaille didn't return it, grunting instead. _

"_Whatever." _

"Eren." Rivaille started. The other boy looked at him. "Don't you think that being needed is a good thing? At least you have some people who will mourn if you die. A great loss to humanity." Rivaille quoted. "We will never be the same without Eren Jaegar."

"Humanity's strongest soldier dead." Eren replied instantly. "Without Rivaille, it is like the loss of a thousand soldiers."

Rivaille waved his hands for _stop_. "They'll do that for _you, _because you show compassion, brat. For me-they'll mourn, sure, but nothing else but that. If I die-" He chuckled bitterly.

"Hanji, Irvin, and maybe you." _That's it. _

_That's all that I'm worth, aren't I? No fucking purpose in life. _

"You do show compassion!" Eren breathed, looking at him. "That one time-"

_Eren was walking in the castle-it was after Hanji had experimented on him, so he was tired. _

_After he passed the window overlooking the castle-what was strange about that window was that it was open, so he poked his head out, wondering who on earth had left a chill breeze in the dead of night. There was a faint whinnying sound, and Eren recognized that as Bacha, the horse that was injured with a broken leg. A soft voice reassured her, coaxing a dark pail of oats. _

_With the dim moonlight, that figure was barely recognizable as Rivaille. _

"_Come on, eat. You're not going to get better if you don't do that, right?" _

_Rivaille sighed, gently petting her. _

_Eren smiled. _

_So the corporal had a good side, after all. _

_**I think that was when I fell in love with you-without realizing it. **_

"What compassion?" Rivaille snapped, raising an eyebrow.

Eren merely chuckled and hugged him again, tight and secure. "Oy! Get off of me-"

Rivaille pushed Eren away, then straightened his cravat. "Let's go. We've wasted enough time already."

Eren smiled as he slyly pocketed the syringe, following the other man. "Yeah."

_Never again. _

* * *

…Sorry for the late update. -.- But I think that you guys will be pleased to know-kinda-ish?

I did a oneshot recently-HanjiXiIrvin centric, for a little bit of background on Something InfallibleLike Eternity. It's called "Sterling Silver" …yeah. You'll understand a bit more of my Rivaille headcanon if you read that, I guess. ^^"

But I might make a prequel of this story. ….But it'll be HanjiXIrvin, so I'll wait until this story's done.

After this story is done, I might make a sequel. I think that you guys will be pleased to hear-

My goal for this story is 100 chapters. …yeah. ^^

**OMAKE-**

**WARNING-**

**SEVERE SEVERE SEVERE PARODY**

**CRACK **

**HUGE OOC HUGE HUGE OOC **

**CRACK**

(Have you guys been warned?)

Disclaimer-This original idea was NOT mind, but my friends'…(yes yes yes I know tell them how weird they are after you read this) I WAS HELD HOSTAGE AND FORCED TO WRITE THIS

When Eren woke up, it was suspiciously dark, which was strange-

Because he clearly remembered it being afternoon. But all the same, there was that suspicious _thud _that came somewhere, and he had a growing panic that that was the sound of his head hitting metal. _Where the fuck was he?!  
_"Hello?" He ventured out, voice croaking from disuse. There were dark straps crisscrossing his body, not unlike the ones that he used for his 3D maneuver gear…

A sudden sliding sound to both his left and right made him startle slightly, and a single spotlight flashed on-

_Rivaille. _Eren frantically looked towards the source of the slithering noise, and saw Hanji and Irvin both holding identical ropes that activated the light.

Was that a sparkling ball above his head? And was _glitter _raining down?! He looked up towards the rafters and saw Sasha and Connie crouching there, sprinkling glitter on Rivaille, who was wearing the tightest pants he'd ever seen.

And that shirt should've been illegal.

_I'm bringing sexy BACK-_

_And none of the other boys know how to act._

Was that a song playing?

"Are you ready?" Rivaille's soft murmur came, but before Eren could open his mouth to ask what the fuck was going on, a voice screamed-_"Wait!" _

With a quick dart, Jean ran to Rivaille's side, shaking a bottle of something that looked like liquefied glitter onto his hands.

Oh, fuck no.

_Glitter Lube_ were the words on the bottle-at least, that was what Eren could tell from the spotlight.

"There." With another hasty retreat, Rivaille was left alone in the spotlight again.

There was an awkward silence.

**THE END **

..I'M SO SORRY.,,,,

Anyway, look forward to these oneshots!

A Gamer!Eren and Cosplayer!Rivaille fanfic-ALMOST DONE!

A "Summer Vacation" with the Recon Corps fanfic-HALFWAY THROUGH

A "S&M" Rivaille X Eren-JUST STARTED

…yeah….All of them are Rivaere, though, so if you want-check them out! (After I'm done, of course.)

YAYFORSHAMELESS SELFPROMOTION!

*October Night, Ithaca-Jody Bolz  
K.K

Reviews make Eren and Rivaille dance the tango together


	31. Chapter 31

Evening had fallen, and Rivaille and Eren were setting up a fire, huddling around the burning embers for warmth. They had traveled to the edge of the forest now, and the dirt quantity had changed-from moist and rich to a sandy, dusty texture. And according to Eren's thesis, they must be near the beach, because the sand felt like this, too!

But Rivaille had skeptically pointed out that Eren shouldn't have felt sand before, because he had never been there yet.

But they were slowly but surely reaching the ocean, which contended Rivaille slightly, because at least they were _moving _and going _somewhere_. The continents that were beyond-if there were any, _would they go explore it? _Or just travel back to the Recon Corps in hope of searching for Eren's father?

"You know, Rivaille." Eren's drowsy voice came from the other side of the fire; the boy's head was on his knees, gazing at the man with feline eyes. "You look really mad. What are you thinking about?" He asked softly, closing his eyes all the way.

"…I'm going to take the syringe." Rivaille decided. Eren shot up; he was fully awake now. "Rivaille, I told you-"

"Everything will be easier this way!" Rivaille grimaced. "This will solve everything!"

"How?!" Eren looked panicked. "How will this solve everything? We're hungry, tired, and I don't even know if you have the health and stamina to turn into a titan-"

"_Are you questioning my health and __**stamina**__?!" _

"What I meant was-" Eren groaned and put his face in his hands. "If you turn into a titan, that'll require a lot of mental strength and health! When I first turned into a titan, I almost fainted-"

"But you turned into a titan at the volcano. How the fuck is that any different?!"

"I was 'relaxed' then-"

"Don't fuck with me." Rivaille's glare intensified. "I'm taking the syringe-" He plunged his hand in his jacket pocket. _It wasn't there._

"…..Eren." He rose, slowly stepping towards the boy. "_Give me the syringe._"

Eren pulled it out, hands visibly shaking. Rivaille sighed in irritation. "Eren, give me it-"

Eren flung it into the fire.

"_What the hell are you doing?!" _Rivaille hastily reached his hands for it-

"Don't do that! You'll be burned!" Eren flung his arms around Rivaille's chest, preventing him from going to the fire. And so Rivaille watched helplessly as the glass of the syringe bubbled and popped, looking like molten silver in the flickering heat, the injection inside of it evaporating.

Eren released him, and Rivaille slumped to the ground in defeat, looking hopessly at the deformed shape in the fire.

"Rivaille?" Eren asked softly. Rivaille got up quickly and struck him, leaving a blossoming bruise on his cheek. Eren didn't make a sound, didn't make a single move to defend himself, just looked down in something that could've been classified as shame. But Rivaille was furious, and he wasn't thinking straight at all. With a choking sound, he kicked Eren's legs from underneath him and pulled his hair closer, delivering blows to his stomach and arms. Eren coughed, and a thin trickle of blood dribbled down his cheek. "You…" Rivaille breathed, hitting Eren again.

"Actually…" He pushed down his boot on Eren's back, forcing the boy's face into the dirt. "Thought…that you…could…best….me?!" Each word was punctuated with another blow, but throughout the whole ordeal, Eren never made a single noise, never said a single word, but that only spurred Rivaille on harder. "Why?!" He kicked Eren again, harder, but even then, Eren didn't say anything.

Suddenly, Rivaille stopped, backing away a few paces and slumping down on the dirt floor. "Oh, god."

_What had happened? _

"Eren…."

"I deserved it." Eren said shortly, looking away from him and wiping the blood so that it became a faint smear on his face. "I'm sorry."

Rivaille opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but at the last moment, turned away. "….I'm sorry too." He finally breathed, hands wrapping around his knees.

Eren nodded with a slight smile, then curled himself into a ball, wincing as his new bruises protested. They sat like that for a long while, until Rivaille noticed a faint keening noise coming from Eren, broken and shattered, and he was ashamed of himself, for beating Eren up even though he had inwardly promised never to do it again, hypocritical, because even though Eren wasn't allowed to hurt him, Rivaille could hurt the other, apparently, and lost. Because now Eren should leave him but the boy was still here somehow.

And Rivaille couldn't figure out for the life of him _why_.

The stars were bright that night, he mused. Like sterling silver, sprinkled among the heavens. When he said that to Eren, the boy looked up slightly and agreed with him, hand inching towards Rivaille's.

Memories of memories and stories of stories. They talked about them all, Rivaille speaking more, as if his words, his voice, would banish the brutal beating that had just happened, and if Eren would forgive him just because of simple words.

Rivaille told him the story of the 'boy who cried wolf' and 'little red riding hood' and Eren murmured in amusement that all of his stories had a villain in them, was there any that didn't have any bad people in it?

And even though Rivaille searched and searched within his mind, he came up with nothing but stories of knights, and princesses, and a giant lizard called a "dragon", always bent on keeping the lovers apart.

Eren would give him gentle stories, like the one of the 'Goose Girl', where the maid was an impostor-the story of Snow White, whose stepmother was racked with greed, and, lastly, with a hint of amusement in his voice, the story of 'Eren Jaegar', the boy who fell in love with a stone hearted corporal.

They talked until the faint rose light of dawn appeared on the blurred line of the horizon, when Rivaille's throat was rough and hoarse from talking but worth it, and Eren's face was a mess of blood and bruises, thrown into sharp relief, a bitter reminder for Rivaille every moment he looked at the boy's face.

And then they started talking about death and darkness, because despair is only beautiful when it's not looming over the horizon, and like Eren said-

"_When I'm young, I'll write poems of death and weakness, because now I am 'immortal', invulnerable and omnipotent, but when I grow old, I'll write poems of life and hope, because death is only beautiful when it's not looming." _

And Rivaille had told him that he would write stories of blue jays and a love that had never found him 'even though it had knocked on every single door'

And there was no girl that cried 'love'

Because the village had learned that wolves were lies, and

Vise versa.

~X~

"Brat." Rivaille sighed. Eren kicked dirt over the fire for what must've been the hundredth time, making sure that no animals would get into the remains.

His face was turned away from Rivaille now, but the man knew that when Eren would face him, it would be a mass of swollen and bleeding skin, and it was all his fault.

"Are we near the ocean now?" Eren asked softly, eyes bright in anticipation.

"When we pass these trees, we should be near the ocean." Rivaille breathed, feeling Eren's hand clench tighter in his.

"Let's go!" Eren tugged on his hand, playfully pulling Rivaille forward.

"Oy! Brat!"  
But Eren was laughing and beautiful in the sunlight despite his bruises, and who was Rivaille to resist?

They ran past the trees, seeing animals flash past them in the darkling sunrise, seeing hints of the beautiful sunrise that only Rivaille thought he would relate to blood, the gleaming water of transparent morning dew, silver on leaves that were fresh and alive.

His boots got dirty, his hair got tangled, and branches tore at his clothing, but he honestly didn't care anymore, only looking at the taller boy that was leading him forward.

"Ah!" Eren let out a choked noise, half a sob, half a laugh, as they broke through the last of the trees. "The ocean!"

_It was true._ Was the first thing Rivaille thought, as Eren wrapped his arms around him and spun him around in dizzying happiness. _The ocean is alive. _

Ripples and ripples of gleaming water lapped at the shores of brittle and soft dirt, and Eren quickly made Rivaille crouch down, helping him take his boots and socks off, saying 'feel the sand!'

And Rivaille felt it in wonder, digging his fingers deeper and deeper into the grit and dirt, until he felt the moist feeling of water.

Eren was half laughing, half crying, as he hugged Rivaille tightly and spun him around, saying over and over, "It's true It's true It's true!"

And Rivaille couldn't help from laughing too, one of those rare moments which he wasn't sure if Eren saw or not.

Eren ran forward into the ocean, laughing as the water lapped at his feet, as if it was a dog that was welcoming a master home.

He plunged deeper into the water, spreading his hands and looking in wonder at the discoreated image of his fingers under the water.

Rivaille lay back on the sand, free of his shirt and digging his toes into the warm sand in content, even fishing out the 'Rivaere' cube that Eren had found at the village sight, so long ago.

He even managed to match up each color to each side, which made Eren scream in frustration and anger, but a smile on his face nevertheless as he pushed Rivaille down onto the sand and kissed him, longingly and searchingly, and Rivaille wrapped his hands back around Eren's back, truly and fiercely glad that he was here.

It was just in this moment-no thoughts of what the future would give them next, no thoughts of what would happen to them in the future, no thoughts of the next thing to do now that their goal was reached, only Rivaille and Eren here, half laughing, half spluttering in humor as they wrestled playfully on the warm sand that was slowly baking them. Eren flung him into the water, and Rivaille was choking and irritated, because he couldn't swim.

Eren couldn't swim either, but that didn't stop him from trying, paddling futilely in the water without any gain.

Rivaille snickered at his attempts but stopped when Eren glared at him and laughed 'why don't you try, then?'

So Rivaille did, and to Eren's fury, actually managed to 'swim' slightly.

Eren had asked him why he was so goddamn perfect, and in response, Rivaille kissed him again, the action turning into something quite different-but Rivaille had refused to do it in the water or on the sand, so Eren was left with his problem for quite awhile.

Neither of them spoke about what to 'do next' or where they would go again, because to be honest, neither of them knew, and they didn't really care anymore.

* * *

Ack. Short chapter and I didn't update for awhile. I know. BUT BAND CAMP JUST ENDED! (whew let's cheer for K.K!)

So I'll be able to write more…hopefully. ;) But part of the reason that I didn't update for awhile is because I was writing the Gamer!Eren and Cosplayer!Rivaille fanfiction-I would love if you checked it out! It's called

"I might be a Crossdresser"

…I don't know. I like the title.

Anyway, hm…I guess just to recap everything-

Eren and Rivaille have reached the ocean. Eren destroyed what may have been the only syringe left in existence.

WHY DID I WRITE THIS WHOLE CHAPTER OUT IF IT WAS SUMMARIZED IN TWO SENTENCESSS

….*sobs in a corner*

I love you guys!  
Until next time! Ja ne!

K.K

Reviews make Rivaille and Eren act Romeo and Juliet


	32. Chapter 32

Rivaille hated fish with every fiber of his being. Eren had caught some in the ocean, spearing them with his blade, even though Rivaille protested that that wasn't the purpose of their weapons. But Eren's flippant response-"We're hungry, right? Does it matter anyway?"

Rivaille could do nothing but roll his eyes and agree, taking another bite of the mackerel. Eren was wolfishly tearing his apart, and Rivaille shivered in disgust at his table manners. Until, that is, Eren shoved a fish in his face, the boggling eyes staring at him.

"_LOOK AT ME HOW DARE YOU EAT ME DON'T YOU GET THAT FISH HAVE FEELINGS TOO." _

Eren articulated perfectly, wiggling the fish around in his hands and a cocky grin on his face.

Thankfully, they still had some greens left from the forest and Irvin, so Rivaille contented himself with that, washing them thoroughly in the water that he boiled. Eren had tried boiling some water too, but it had been so goddamn _salty _that Rivaille almost choked, spitting and coughing. And as he later explained to Eren-when you boil _ocean _water, cover it with a plastic sheet and catch the water that dribbles down-because salt doesn't evaporate, right? Eren had watched him with anticipating eyes, bright and fey.

Later that night, after their meal, they lay back on the sandy ground, Eren spooned against him with a arm carelessly draped around his waist, nose somewhere in Rivaille's tangled mess of hair.

"Don't you think…that sand is a wonderful thing?" Eren murmured, little grains falling from his fingers. "It trickles so easily through your fingers-makes you feel like humans have everything, right?"

"…Shut up and sleep." Was all Rivaille could get out, rolling over on his back. He didn't know how to react, because Eren had never acted like this before. And now, it was like a climax had happened. They had reached the ocean-_finally_-and now, what was there to do? Eren wanted to search for his father, but where the hell could Grisha be?

Inwardly, Rivaille thought that he was dead by now, but he didn't say anything, for fear of upsetting Eren. And because that could've been another goal-something else to work towards in the future. When he had told Hanji-_"I'm tired of everything" _that wasn't a lie, in itself, actually, that was quite the truth.

But now, he found himself slipping back into the same monotonic routine, and Rivaille was scared that he would become weary again, and now, there was no hope of release.

_They could travel across the ocean. _

But would there really be lands across that? How long would it take? Would they run out of a food source and starve? What if there were more titans on other continents? _How would they get across? _

A boat, maybe. Made of wooden planks and fastened metal-except that they didn't have those sources in supply. What was he to do? Rivaille mused, over and over, until he realized that the sun was coming up-he had thought through the whole night. Groaning, he turned over to try to find some sleep, but Eren just grumbled something and held him tighter, until Rivaille couldn't move.

He gently removed himself from the arms and got up, brushing sand and dirt off his clothing and walking over to the forest trees. They were mostly redwood, or that was what Rivaille could see, at least. It would make good wood for a boat, but how would they get the right shape and carve? Were their blades going to be useless? But the steel wouldn't cut through hard enough. Rivaille concluded. The blades chipped easily enough from titans-and they only had a small abundance left anyway, because Mikasa had taken pity on them and lent them half of their own supply, despite Eren's protests.

Back where he left him, Eren stirred slightly, arms reaching out for something that was no longer there. And as Rivaille looked at him, he couldn't help feeling pity-that someone his age, who had the blessing of naïve stupidity, had to see the world at it's cruelest-had to face the fact that walls weren't going to protect forever-and have to take his own footing on un-steady ground and scream his own voice out into the world.

Because when Rivaille was his age, he never could've done that.

"_Hey there, what's your name?" Rivaille snickered as he took a long drag from his cigarette. "Haven't seen you around-you know, if you're new in this part of town, you'll die, motherfucker. This atmosphere isn't meant for pansies like you." _

_The man had looked at him in surprise, then straightened and wrapped his cloak more securely around himself. Rivaille's eyes trailed over the dark green fabric, lingered on the silver emblem on the back. Wings of freedom. _

"_I'm sorry, but I seem to be a little…lost. Could you show me the way?" _

_Rivaille glared at him and scowled. If he wanted to play this game, so be it. Rivaille had been wearing a long, thin white shirt at that time, going all the way down to his knees, but now he opted for a dark hooded jacket, with tight trousers underneath. Pulling the hood over his head, he breathed out, seeing the white clouds of air swirl where his breath touched them. He had led the man around, showing him the entrance from the 'dangerous' and back to 'reality'._

_As the man hesitated as he said thank you, Rivaille sighed and pulled his hood down slightly. "I'm not stupid, you know." _

"_Pardon?" _

"_You're the Recon Corps, right? Irvin Smith." Rivaille snorted. "My guess is that you're the golden boy-follower of everything-you'll probably be promoted to commander one day, right?" _

"_N-No, that's the leader's job-"_

"_Task. Capture the drug dealer that's been running amuck with everyone's money." Rivaille dully recited, rolling his eyes and yawning. Irvin winced at the sharp canines that were revealed at that slight movement. "I've heard it all." _

"_I don't want to kill you." Irvin admitted. _

_Rivaille didn't say anything to that, pulling up his hood again and feeling his hair lift slightly in the wind, long black strands waving slightly. _

"_I'll see you tomorrow?" Irvin had hesitantly said, looking conflicted. _

"_Hm." Rivaille smirked. "Yeah, sure." _

_Despite himself, they had kept on meeting each other, until Irvin was comfortable enough to tell him about his place in the Recon Corps, and a woman named "Hanji, Zoe" and Rivaille had grunted in affirmation but was slightly curious, wondering what it was about the woman that made him so goddamn happy. _

_They had played this little game for a little over a month, until one day, Irvin came with a grim face. Rivaille had pulled his cloak over himself, like he always did, and ducked his head, feeling small breaths of hair tickle his chin and cheek. "You're coming for me now, right?" _

"_Join the Recon Corps, Rivaille." Irvin said in a hurried rush. "Please. You'll have a-"_

"_Goal for humanity? A future?" Rivaille snorted. "Bullshit." He stretched the word out, fumbling in his pocket for another cigarette. _

"…_Rivaille." Irvin looked dejected. "When you die, no one will care, right? And crying is out of the question too, right?" _

_Rivaille glared at him. "No one will give a crap when I die except for those sick bastards who love weed a little too much." _

"_I'll care." Irvin insisted. "Join the Recon Corps, Rivaille. Please." _

"_What makes you think I'll join?" Rivaille shot back, hopping off the barrels that he was sitting on and waving a slender backwards hand. "Then, later." _

_Day after day, again and again, Irvin would come back and persuade him, but Rivaille didn't say anything else except for the "No" that would already be on his lips the moment he saw Irvin approach. _

_But he couldn't help thinking to himself that the offer actually made sense, in some ways, and why didn't he try it out? _

_Somehow-he didn't even remember himself-he was roped into it, and the first he had demanded was a haircut. He hacked off half his hair, while Hanji had screamed at the loss, while he inwardly wondered how Irvin could even stand that woman. As he sat there with silvery-gray strands of hair in his fingers, falling through the gaps in his hands, his head felt a lot lighter-not just because he cut off his hair-(it had been down to his neck and a little further than that)-but because he felt like he was shedding something that he had been trying to get rid of for a long time but just never noticed was there. _

_Irvin had fixed his haircut quietly, and Rivaille didn't know how, but he ended up with a haircut like his, shaved in the back. Irvin didn't change his bangs, though. Didn't touch them at all. And when Rivaille had chopped his hair off, he hadn't touched them either, feeling the strands of thin hair brush against his eyelashes. _

"_Humanity's strongest soldier! Humanity's strongest soldier!" People had screamed, showering praise. And in that moment, Rivaille couldn't help but think that joining the Recon Corps was one of his best decisions in his life. Irvin was there, clapping in pride, and Hanji was by all means, crying. _

_When Irvin had received the title of commander, just as Rivaille had predicted-Rivaille was happy for him, proud inside, but he left Irvin and Hanji alone for awhile, not knowing what was about to happen. _

_Petra had joined the Recon Corps next, and she seemed to gaze upon him with an adoration that he found slightly irritating. But Irvin had supported their relationship-encouraged it, actually-and Rivaille held her hands and sometimes kissed her on the forehead, but never on the lips. Never. _

_And when he had met Eren, seen that flare of passion in that jail cell, injured him in the courtroom, embedding the word __**punishment **__into the boy's mind, he felt more alive than he had in years. And when he asked Eren-"Do you hate me?" _

_And when the answer was a simple-"No." Rivaille felt something within himself twitch in ways that Petra couldn't make him feel. _

"…lle! Rivaille!" Rivaille jerked back from the tree that he was staring at, almost collapsing in Eren's waiting arms.

"I woke up and you weren't there-" Eren's worried voice rambled on and on, and Rivaille couldn't do anything but feel the rush of pinpricks as he let out the breath as he rushed back to the present, and listening to the steady voice of the boy who kept him sane.

_That's it. _"But today I caught-"

_Eren, no. _That was why Eren had been acting like this lately.

"So why don't we-"

"Eren." Rivaille's unsteady voice cut through the chatter. There was a moment of silence. "…Yes?" Eren smiled, bright and sharp.

"Don't." his voice was a slight whisper now, shaking his head, refusing to believe.

"You knew." Eren's laugh was wavering and choking. "You knew, all along, didn't you."

"Eren." Rivaille's voice was pleading. "You can't."

"….Do I need to make a formal declaration?"

"Is this why you wanted to go to the ocean?" Rivaille demanded, voice breaking.

"No, not exactly." Eren closed his eyes. He opened them again, and Rivaille was struck by their haunting, bright color, leafy green and blazing fire. Two opposite things that somehow made so much sense together. _That he might never see again. _

Eren knelt down, fumbling for something. Rivaille twisted his lips together tightly. Eren slid his sword out, and presented it to Rivaille, palm up, mocking and bitter smile on his face.

"_Rivaille. Will you kill me?" _

* * *

Yay I have more time to write! ^^ Yes, yes, updates are going to come a lot faster-whoop! The part of the story that's going to happen next was actually inspired by a very beautiful doujinshi-called "He was a Mere 15 year old." But it's honestly one of the best ones-and when a Reviewer told me that the doujinshi was really similar to this story, I was surprised-

Because in the doujinshi, Rivaille asks Eren to run away with him too…*don't worry, I'm not going to spoil anything.* ^^

For those of you who have read "Sterling Silver" (a slight prequel to the story, Hanji/Irvin) Rivaille's past in there was a lot more hurried than in here, because I don't think that Irvin could have convinced Rivaille to join so easily-but it'll go along the lines pretty well. But it's interesting seeing it from Rivaille's and Irvin's perspective too!

**Poll-**

**What do you think should happen to Irvin, Jean, Mikasa, and Armin? ***whispers* I'm out of ideas, if you can't tell….

Cliffhanger muahahahah! But don't worry, this story's pace is going to pick up a lot faster from now on-a good thing, right?

Anyway…

See you next time! Ja ne~!  
K.K

Reviews will make Rivaille and Eren realize that (all you need is love~da da da da da a dum!)


	33. Chapter 33

_The moment he had met Eren, it was through billowing clouds of humid steam, the brief rush of adrenaline through his veins as he slit a titan's neck deftly, watching the huge body fall like an earthquake, spinning and landing on its fallen back. It was turning around to see a trio of huddled figures somewhere slotted through the smoke, to ask, voice cracked from disuse-"Hey, brats. What's going on here?" _

_To see a pair of flickering green eyes latch onto his back, to gaze at the silver rippled symbol. "Wings of Freedom…" The boy had said before his head lolled forward, and panicked cries of "Eren!" followed. _

_It was a meeting of a monster and human. One that Rivaille couldn't know until now how much he regretted it. _

Sand crunched against his feet as Rivaille hastily backed away, finally tripping over a root in the sand and falling, hands getting covered with sand and dirt and whatnot, but Rivaille couldn't feel any of that now, because Eren was still walking towards him, that sad smile still on his face, looking so _alien_, so _unfamiliar_, that to Rivaille, this wasn't the Eren that he knew anymore-but just a clone, taking his place momentarily, a test that G-d gave Rivaille, if one existed, anyway.

"_Nothing good can last forever, Rivaille." _Irvin had said once.

"_When I die-" _Hanji had started, face serious and haunting.

"_Corporal-you won't ever die, right? Right?" _Petra had laughed once, swinging her legs over a brick wall languidly. _"Because-I can't imagine Rivaille dying, really." _

"_I'm leaving." _Mike had said soberly. _"You won't ever see me again. Label me a traitor, but I'm scared. Too scared to go on." _

_**The sea is wide, and I can't get over-**_

_**Nor have I, **_

_**The wings to fly. **_

"Rivaille?" Eren whispered, still approaching him while he was in a stupor. "Rivaille?"

"Why?"

Eren stopped his walk at that, halting and tilting his head up, as if wondering. "Too many reasons. You won't understand-"

"_How can I understand if you don't tell me?!" _Petra had screamed. _"I could've understood, if you trusted me!" _

"How can I understand…if you don't tell me?" Rivaille crumpled. "Besides-you have your father to find, right? Don't tell me that you're going to leave him-"

"_My father is dead." _Eren snapped, eyes burning again. "I don't deserve to see him again anyway."

"_Father! Father! Look!" Rivaille grinned in superiority as he held up the small wooden ship that he had carved. "How is it?" _

_The booming laugh of his father echoed around the workshop as he swung Rivaille around and around again, finally bringing him to his chest. "Amazing, Rivaille. Look, dear!" He had added as Rivaille's mother came in. "Our son is going to be a woodcarver!" _

_Rivaille's mother has just rolled her eyes and smiled as she joined the huddle. _

"How can you say that?!" Rivaille lunged for Eren and pinned him to the beach, twisting the blade out of his grip and flinging it into the sand somewhere, seeing Eren's defeated face among the sand grits that were covering his hair, dusting his jacket and shirt with light waves, and Rivaille slumped forward, losing his ferocity that he had seen moments before.

"Do it, Rivaille." Eren's fingers trailed over the curve of his cheekbone, the sharp angles of his collar. "Why does a monster like me deserve to live, anyway? That's fine, right?" He laughed.

_Your smile looks so lonely, Eren. _

"Kill me, Rivaille." Eren repeated languidly, eyes half closed, flaming green slits through the cutting dawn. "Didn't you swear that you would kill all the titans? Aren't I the only one left?"

"You're not!" Rivaille protested. "There are still those abnormals left-"

Eren paused for a moment, breath shallow. "I'm an abnormal now too, you know?"

Rivaille's mouth twisted and in a rush of recklessness, he gripped Eren's hands in his own, tightly. "Let's run away for real this time." He said in a rush. "Just you and me. So far away that no one can find us. Let's live together. Just the two of us! Please-" His voice broke off.

"Oh, Rivaille…" Eren smiled slightly. "You know that I can't do that. I can't live with that guilt feeling, yeah? You know that better than me. But you…were different. You could fix your mistakes, live off your past-after all, being a drug dealer is successful, no?"

"How did you…" Rivaille was lost for words. He hadn't told Eren any of that, hadn't he?

"Irvin told me. _I'm not stupid, Rivaille._"

"I never said you were." Was his weak response. "But…if you leave me, won't I be all alone, then?" And suddenly, his eyes were stringing, his breath was hacked and uneven, feeling something wet drip down his face, with no rain to blame it on this time, and feeling an emotion that rushed through him, made him stagger, tremble, choke upon the thick feeling of _sadness_ and _pain_.

And Eren was stunned, not moving as Rivaille broke down crying, _for the second and last time. _

"Don't leave me, Eren." Rivaille saw tears fall on Eren's jacket; transparent and clear, soaking quickly into the fabric.

"Rivaille…I'm scared." Was Eren's answering whimper, and Rivaille looked at Eren's face to see that he was crying too, face screwed up in pain and desperation. "I don't want to die."

"Then why?" Rivaille wiped at his eyes, but it was useless. "Live. Live, and never look back. It can just be us!" His voice choked. "Just us, no one else!"

"For humanity! So that this war can end-to make a better life for you, for Irvin and Hanji, for Jean, Armin, and Mikasa! This will be the best-"

Rivaille slapped him. "_What will your death do?! Don't you think of us? How we would mourn!? Look at me, Eren!" _he said as Eren's head turned away. _"Look at me, in the eyes, and tell me that __**I**__, wouldn't be sad by your death!" _

"Time heals all wounds." Eren smiled again, through the tears, through the pain, through the desperation that was settling over them like a thick blanket, but it wasn't winter, they didn't need warmth, it was summer, for fucks sake.

"I swear to god, Eren Jaegar-" Rivaille gripped Eren's shirt front, trembling. "If you leave me, I will follow." He said in a rush.  
"This is just some fucked up lover's cliché suicide moment, isn't it?" Eren laughed. "If you follow, I swear personally to kick you from death's door and back to reality. Rivaille." His eyes softened. "Fall in love."

"….I'm already in love, Eren." Eren. Not brat, but _Eren_. "With you."

Eren's face crumpled at that, and he suddenly wrapped his arms around Rivaille tightly and bawled, tears streaming down his face into Rivaille's jacket, and the other holding him back just as tightly, crying as well, and for once, not protesting at the disgusting wetness that was dripping on his jacket, not protesting at Eren's broken and sobbing voice, close in his ear.

It was just him. _He had been alone all along, hadn't he? _

~X~  
"It's raining." Jean remarked, holding his hands up to the rain, feeling the wet droplets pelt his face.

"You know?" Armin hummed, pulling his hood over his head. "People say that when it rains-it's for hope, not despair. That someone out there has found content, and the rain is a sign that they're okay."

"Someone died?!" Jean stared at him in shock.

Armin sighed and didn't say anything. Irvin chuckled and reined his horse. "Let's stop. The rain's going to go down hard soon, right, Mikasa?"

The girl looked at him, quiet.

Jean agreed, however, and got down from his horse, helping Armin down too. Because Irvin was traveling back with them, he couldn't walk-he would fall behind soon, so Armin and Jean were sharing a horse-Armin having given up his to the commander.

They were near the forest now, so they reined in the horses and put them under an overhanging canopy, hoods pulled over heads to avoid the splattering of rain above. Irvin made a makeshift shelter out of branches and leaves; Armin helped by gathering leaves and laying them on the bottom so that they wouldn't get wet from the mud. Mikasa helped Jean get the branches, wordlessly stacking each stick over the other slowly and deliberately. To tell the truth, Armin was worried. _Mikasa had always been…strong. _Through everything, through pain, through failures, through _death-_but maybe not that much. To lose Eren was losing the rest of her family, really. He realized.

And casting that off,

Mikasa was alone now. But she still had him, right? Armin bit his lip as he rearranged the leaves for the fourth time. _He was no match compared to Eren, after all. _

"_How come you couldn't have died instead of Eren?" Ymir spat, lip curling up in disgust. _

"_Ymir!" Christa had protested, whirling around to look at Armin with an apologetic look on her face. _

_**It's okay. **__Armin wanted to say, curing up even tighter into his shield. __**She's right, after all. **_

Even to Jean-who had always thought of chasing Eren, even coming along with them to find him, because he was Eren's friend too, wasn't he? And Armin couldn't help wondering-if it was him who had gone missing-

_Would Mikasa go searching for him? _

Even though he could have been overestimating, he knew somehow-that Eren wouldn't leave him, wouldn't let him be out there alone. He would probably go and accidently bring Mikasa with him, because she went everywhere that he did, right?

_Would Jean go searching for him? _

No, he wouldn't. At least that answer was clear.

Mikasa and Jean had finished setting up the base, and Irvin had finished stretching leaves across it, so now they joined Armin under the canopy, albeit a little squished. It was too damp to even try lighting a fire, so they huddled together, trying to share the little body warmth they had. Jean was pressed against Armin's right, and Mikasa to his left, and Armin kept having to remind himself that the reason Jean was even touching him was for warmth. Nothing else, anyway. So he spent the rest of the time pretending that Jean's comforting presence beside him didn't make his stomach feel weird and his head light.

* * *

Sorry! ^^ Short chapter this time too! *bows down* But never fear-K.K has an omake for you! :D Yes, I swear that it's not _entirely _crack this time…well….not really…but…FINE IT'S PURELY FOR MY OWN ENTERTAINMENT

**Omake- Modern AU. Rivaille and Eren are in a painting class. It's portrait day, and they're paired up to paint each other. **

Eren gulped as he snuck a glance at the boy across of him. A purely displeased look on his face, Rivaille was sitting stiffly on his chair, cross-legged and tight entangled arms.

An easel sat in front of him, identical to Eren's. But whereas Eren had a pencil in his hand, Rivaille had none in his at all, just glaring at his surely blank piece of paper. Eren nervously sketched the curve of his chin, sure that if he screwed Rivaille's face up, the boy would kill him. He did get first place in the fencing tournament, after all.

Finally, there was a tired grunt, a click of a pencil, and a rustling noise of pencil on canvas. Eren looked up to watch Rivaille and saw the other boy staring at him, an natural look on his face, like _eh you're not too bad to draw so I'll just get this over with. _"You have strange eyebrows." Rivaille remarked, raising a thin eyebrow of his own as he sketched out the first mark on his paper.

Eren gritted his teeth at the remark but did nothing, just pressing down even harder and accidently giving Rivaille a hooked nose, not unlike Snape from Harry Potter. He quickly erased it, fixing the sketch lines.

Rivaille's eyes were darting lightly over Eren's form, his hands, his arms, and finally decided his idea. _Messy, tangled hair. _Charcoal lines came to life. _A crooked jaw. _And finally, _slanted green eyes. _

Eren was actually quite proud of himself, as he had made a perfect likeliness of Rivaille on the paper. He added some shadows with charcoal, thinking that a 'dramatic' look would be nice-and as if his hands had a mind of their own, they drew a crossed wing pattern on the top left corner of Rivaille's hair.

"Time up!" Hanji called, roaming around to look at the portraits. Rivaille inwardly cursed the fact that he got stuck with _this _teacher, and why couldn't he have gotten Mr. Smith instead?!

"Wow, Eren!" She exclaimed as she bent over the terrified boy. "It looks just like him!" Eren nervously smiled, looking sheepish. "What's with that wing design, though?" Hanji pointed to it. "It's like you gave him a floating tattoo! Ah, this would be perfect for our next project!"

"Excuse me?"

"You'll see." Hanji laughed as she turned to look at Rivaille's. "Oh….Rivaille." She bit her lip, and Rivaille glared up at her. _"How." _She bent down and gripped his shoulders, shaking him. "Your talent has even surpassed mine WHAT DID YOU DO TO CREATE SUCH A LOVELY BEING IS THIS EREN?!"

"I guess…" Rivaille yawned, already packing up his bag.

Eren did the same, hurrying so that he could see what Rivaille had drawn. _Was that supposed to be him?! _His hair was long and….tangled looking…Eren put a self-conscious hand to his hair. His eyes were about the same, just a lot smaller. And his mouth…was crooked. A pair of teeth rose above the others. _What was Rivaille thinking? _

"Rivaille can I keep this?!" Hanji pleaded, clasping her hands together.

"No!" Rivaille remarked in agitation, thinking about what the woman would do to it. Probably pin it to her wall and kiss it everyday. "Why not?!" She protested.

"I'm…giving it to Eren!" He quickly said, thrusting the picture to him. Eren took it in surprise, looking down at the work. "T-Then, you can have mine too!" He hurriedly said, shoving his sketch into Rivaille's hands. The boy turned it over in his hand, then finally said-"What the fuck-this looks nothing like me!"

"Language, Rivaille!" Hanji lectured, then sighed sadly at the picture in Eren's hand. "….Will you sell it, Eren?"

"I-I'm sorry…" Eren said sheepishly. "I actually want to keep this one.."

Behind Hanji, Rivaille smiled slightly.

Hanji gritted her teeth, then climbed on a table and declared-"Class! TOMORROW IT'S GOING TO BE A NAKED PORTARIT DAY! STAY WITH YOUR RESPECTIVE PARTNERS!"

Rivaille and Eren both looked at each other in disbelief.

* * *

I hope you like it! A little gift from me, I guess. ;)

Until next time! Ja ne~!  
K.K

Reviews will make Rivaille and Eren do the do.


	34. Chapter 34

By the time Armin woke up, the sun was a sliver of light on the horizon, peering above pine trees in the distance. His clothes were wet and muddled by last night; despite everything, they still got wet. "Are you awake?" Armin turned to see Irvin leaning against a tree, already awake and alert. "Y-Yeah." He cleared his throat, which was rough with disuse. "Why are you?"

Irvin closed his eyes and leaned back even further. "Keeping guard, that's all."

Armin frowned and got up, staggering slightly. "You can go to sleep, commander-I'll take over from here."

Irvin frowned and didn't move. "Don't call me that, Arlet."

"…..Understood." Armin said, even attempting a half-salute.

"No formalities here." Irvin waved a hand dismissively. "It's not like I deserve it anyway."

"But-" Armin started to protest, then stopped, twisting his mouth. "Then-you can call me Armin."

"Armin…" Irvin tried, smiling wryly. "Why not?"

When Armin walked over to where Irvin was, the man didn't move, even when Armin repeated his offer to take over the watch. So they just stood there in the silence, which was getting increasingly awkward, and Armin wondered, not for the first time, why Mikasa and Jean weren't awake. He and Irvin weren't talking that softly-surely they must've heard them, right?

"What are you thinking about,….Irvin?" Armin still had to get used to the name.

Irvin turned slightly to look at him; surprised. "Why do you ask?"

To be honest, it was to make small talk and break the silence, but Armin couldn't very well say that now, could he? "You look…conflicted."

Irvin turned back up to the tree, looking at the still damp leaves that were dripping around them. "I am." He admitted.

Where there was no more elaboration, Armin ventured-"About...?"

"Going back." The answer came instantly.

"But-" Armin started, then shrank back, thinking carefully. "The Recon Corps are there, right? No one would blame you, honestly-"

"Armin." Irvin tilted his head and looked at him. "Look me in the eye and tell me that when we go back, no one will hate me for what I've done." His voice was bitter.

_It was true. _"But there are the people there who'll understand-like Hanji!"

_I am really a coward. _"Hanji?"

Armin nodded. "She'll understand."

Irvin's laugh echoed around the trees, and Armin whipped around to look at Jean and Mikasa, who were still somehow asleep. "Understand?" Irvin chuckled in humor. "Ah, Armin."

"Won't she?"

"….." This time there was no reply.

"You and Hanji are close friends-why not?"

"She's not just a friend." Irvin pulled on his collar, tugging it slightly. "She's my…Lover."

Armin opened his mouth, then closed it again; he didn't know what to say. "Even more willing to forgive you, then?" He attempted.

"I don't think so." Irvin closed his eyes. "Hanji…is levelheaded. She puts the good of people above everyone else-she would even kill me if it meant that."

"….You're lucky, you know?" Armin sighed, pulling his hood over his head; the rain was getting worse. "To already have someone."

"I'm lucky to have Hanji." Irvin's mouth twisted into a smile. "I love her, you know."

"Hn." Armin didn't know what to say-he felt like he was trespassing on a private moment that he shouldn't be in.

"What about you, Armin?" Irvin turned to face him. "Do you love anyone?"

"…No." He replied shortly. "I don't."

"…I see." Irvin sighed. "You're the one who's lucky."

Armin ducked his head, sighing. "I guess." He repeated Irvin's tone, and the man laughed softly.

A rustling of fabric was heard, and he saw Jean stretch and yawn, blinking bleary eyes. Mikasa followed, running a hand through her hair, and as Armin looked at her, he saw dark bags under her eyes, her weary face that seemed aged beyond her years, and he realized that she was suffering too, through all of this.

_Mikasa hadn't slept at all. _

Her depth and care of Eren had never been considered, just a sisterly affection-but now Armin realized that it went even further past that-further past the point of non-sibling love,

Went past the point of care for a lover.

"Let's go." Mikasa got up slightly, brushing mud off her jacket and pants.

"Ah." Armin breathed, agreeing with her.

Irvin stifled a yawn and got their bags, easily piling them on his horse as he swung up onto the animal, unwinding the tether that he had made. Mikasa did the same, deftly getting on her horse like she'd been doing this all her life.

"Do you need help?" Armin turned to see Jean grinning, gesturing to the horse whose reins he was holding. Last time, Armin was tired and confused, so he had forgotten how to get on the horse and fell off soon after he had.

"That was one time!" Armin protested, smiling despite his words. "I don't need help again."

Jean frowned, and before Armin knew what was happening, he had picked Armin up easily and swung him around in dizzying circles until the boy couldn't tell what was left from right, down from up, and Jean released him back onto the ground. "Now do you need help?" Jean laughed as Armin tried to stagger up.

"Bastard." Was his only response, before nodding wearily.

Jean helped Armin up on the horse, then swung behind him, catching the stirrups in his hands. The horse turned around and nickered at him slightly, and Armin laughed. "Do you know what I'm going to name this horse?"

"What?"

"Jean."

"Why?!" Jean protested.

"Your face is exactly like it! Similar proportions and everything!" Armin declared.

"My face is _not _like a horse!"

Behind them, Irvin smiled slightly, shaking his head. After he looked at Mikasa, he realized that the girl was gazing at them sadly, a thin twist of her mouth visible.

Even after they'd started traveling again, Armin and Jean were still talking, filling up the silence that would've otherwise been there.

Awhile later, the sky started graying, and Irvin offhandly mentioned that it might rain. Mikasa nodded, pulling her cloak over her head and motioning for Armin and Jean to do the same. Armin slipped his on, feeling the fabric rustle around his ears, saw his vision being obscured by green edges.

"This isn't rain." Irvin frowned, looking at his finger. Armin raised his hand to catch some of the rain, licking it off his palm. _It was salty._

"It's saltwater." Armin confirmed, coughing slightly. Jean patted his back in concern.

"Saltwater?" Mikasa murmured, instantly alert.

"What does saltwater have to do with rain?" Jean yawned, pulling his cloak tighter over himself. "They're both rain, right?"

"Saltwater can only come from the ocean." Armin put a hand to his chin, brow furrowing as he thought. "And we're not near any lakes, so that couldn't be it-and the ocean's just a little south from here."

"But it's still a fair distance away, right?" Mikasa asked, subconsciously gripping her reins tighter.

"Yes." Irvin frowned. "That's what worries me."

"Why?" Jean blinked, confused.

"The water form the ocean would've taken a long way to get here." Armin explained. "But when we were back there, the rain wasn't salty. So it must've started recently-"

"-And the ocean isn't that close." Irvin finished. "So the rain would've traveled at an extremely high speed to reach here."

"The wind?" Mikasa tensed.

Irvin nodded slightly, narrowing his eyes. "There's a storm coming."

"I've heard of things called tsunamis." Armin hurriedly said. "Or a typhoon. And there are things called hurricanes too-"

"Armin." Irvin looked at him. "Look me in the eye and tell me the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane."

"A tsunami…" Armin gulped. "It's…a flood." Irvin nodded, prompting him to continue. "And a hurricane…is a strong wind that comes from the sea-"

"And how are tsunami's made?" Irvin asked, smiling slightly as Armin gaped at him. "Do you know?"

"Waves." Armin gulped. "Huge…waves."

"Where are…" Irvin waved his hand.

"_Near the sand and ocean." _

~X~  
It was just the beginning of dawn when Rivaille woke up-and the first thing he noticed were the tides, which were huge and unproportional in comparison to yesterday. "Eren." He hurriedly shook the boy awake, feeling a flare of panic when he didn't wake up. _"Eren!" _

"Ngh…" Eren turned over, and Rivaille gritted his teeth and poked his arm, leaning over and yelling into his ear-_"Wake up!" _

"Argh!" Rivaille leapt back deftly as Eren's fist reflexively tried to hit his face. They were frozen for awhile, Eren still trying to process awake and sleep. "…Rivaille?"

The man honestly thought that with Eren's hair and bleary face like that, he didn't look much too intimidating.

"Look at the ocean."

The boy laughed, yawning as he threaded his hands through his hair. "What's wrong-" He froze then, the hand that was halfway to his hair dropping to his lap. "What-"

Just then, a wave hit them-not a big one, just big enough to lap at their feet and make them hurry back into the safe foliage of the trees.

"Rivaille? What's going-" Eren's voice was cut off as another wave headed towards them; they were increasing in size and intimidation each time-this one almost hit their packs. "How should I know?" Rivaille hissed back, frantically trying to find a safer place. "Weren't you always the scientist?"

"There wasn't anything about this!" Eren yelled back, just as the third wave hit them, this time drenching Rivaille's jacket and pants. Gritting his teeth, Rivaille extended the wires of his maneuver gear and swung onto a tall branch, calling back down to Eren for the boy to join him. The moment Eren prepared his string-the fourth wave hit.

It soaked Eren thoroughly, drenching him through his clothes and weapons. He coughed, spitting out salt water that had gotten in his mouth, and tried to extend his wire, to make it hurry, but it was _stuck _and there was no way to move it-oh god oh god oh god there was a tangle and it wouldn't move-

"Eren!" Rivaille crouched down, preparing to jump down and retrieve him, but Eren screamed at him-_"Stay there!" _

Rivaille froze where he was, watching as the fifth wave approached. Eren finally untangled some of his wire, and shot it up into the tree. Rivaille gave a quick sigh of relief, still gripping onto the tree bark so deeply that his fingernails were splintered with wooden chips and bark but he didn't care anymore goddammit why wouldn't Eren go faster?!

The moment Eren was almost at his branch, Rivaille stretched out a hand to him, and Eren was screaming a garble of words about how the waves were too close and _Rivaille go on go on go on without me!_

And Rivaille distinctly remembered saying that he wouldn't that he couldn't, because he couldn't imagine a world without Eren, and the moment their fingers touched, the moment their hands locked together, the fifth wave hit, and Rivaille hung on tightly, feeling the splinters of broken wood and leaves hit him, tangle in his hair, in his clothes, but he didn't mind any of that, only focusing on the slippery hand that he was gripping, tightly holding onto the fingers that had loved him, so long ago.

There was a moment in time where Rivaille actually thought that they would be _okay_ that everything would be _fine _but then the sixth wave hit and it was furious beautiful undying destructive, _taking_, and the only moment he could remember was when Eren's trembling hand slipped from his and his hair sank underwater.

And suddenly, Rivaille was screaming hysterically, fumbling for his grappling hook to release from the tree, but it wouldn't go, his fingers wouldn't move, wouldn't let him dive in the water to save him-and the high pitched screaming went on and on and on, and by the end, Rivaille couldn't tell if he was crying or not because water and blood were splattered on his face, a mixture of his and Eren's, and the waves roared in tune with his frantic sobbing, a cackling laughter echoing over and over again as Rivaille desperately tried to find the courage to jump into the water to save Eren, but _he couldn't do it. _

He would have done _anything _to find Eren. But a fiber of his remaining sanity said-"_Don't do it-it won't do any good-you'll die and then you can't search for Eren anymore-he wouldn't want you to die for his sake-live. Live and stay alive."_

The primitive survival instincts that every animal had.

They were what was holding him onto that tree, shivering and screaming as the waves teared at his traumatized body, mocking his loss, and Rivaille was left wishing that they had _never ever ever gone to the ocean._

_**We should have never gone to the ocean. **_

* * *

REASON WHY MY UPDATES ARE SLOW-SCHOOLLLL HAS ARRIVEDDD

So. I was thinking-if I have weekly updates (ew I know I don't like weekly updates either) But I have longer chapters-like around 3,000 words, I guess? Is that better for you guys? So instead of really short chapters, I'll just work on some each day and get the chapters out that way. :D  
500 REVIEWS WE PASSED 500 REVIEWS I AM ALMOST DYING OF HAPPINESSSSSSSS

Um…yeah. I'm still working on oneshots, so I'll pick a winner next time-(sorry, five oneshots is a bit too big for me during the school year, so we're going to cut it down to one oneshot until I have more time ^^")

**Omake-Painting AU, part II **(so many of you have requested this…..)

The day of the 'nude portrait day' as Eren had nicknamed it-hell, he had even written it on his calendar, which his dorm mate, Armin, had been perplexed about-had come. And Eren was prepared for battle. Gripping his pencils and paintbrushes in one hand, he clenched his easel and sketchbook paper in the other, gulping and sweating nervously.

When he entered the room, it was chaos, and there were…._curtains _everywhere. Each partner was standing in front of them, waiting for further instruction from Hanji, who was on her tiptoes, looking around for someone. When he creaked open the door-

"EREN WHERE WERE YOU I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU EVERYWHERE-_" _Hanji hopped down from the table and ran to meet him, pumping his hand enthustically. "Please, please, pose your best, okay? _Erotic poses are perfectly fine._" She whispered in Eren's red ear, winking at him as she ushered him to his curtain, where Rivaille was already waiting, inspecting his nails idly.

"G-Good morning!" Eren hurriedly said, having the strangest feeling that he had to salute and _bow_. Rivaille yawned. "Yeah, yeah." Hanji clapped her hands and everyone turned to look at her.

"So, nudity is something very crucial to the artistic development. Usually, boys will be sketching men, because….women are better off with women, who they feel more comfortable with." Ymir shuffled closer to Christia, and Mikasa scowled at Sasha and Annie, who she was paired up with.

"Boys, I expect a…through drawing of the…parts." She cleared her throat.

Reiner and Bertholdt looked awkwardly at eachother, and Marco smiled at Jean, who just huffed and looked away. Rivaille scowled and Eren died.

"Begin!" She smiled, and everyone went inside their curtains.

Eren was the first to go in, waiting on the chair that was prepared as Rivaille came in after him, pushing back dark hair that was getting into his eyes.

"So…do you want to go first?" He asked cautiously, looking at Rivaille. The boy yawned. "I don't care."

"I'll go first, then." Eren gulped as he took off his jacket-he could feel Rivaille's watching eyes on him. After that was the shirt, and Eren could swear that he heard a sharp intake of breath from Rivaille, but just decided that as his imagination.

After that were his pants, and finally, his boxers. Eren hesitated at that part, and Rivaille snapped-"Just get on with it, brat."

Eren hurriedly removed them, and Rivaille sat down at his easel, poising a pencil on his paper.

Eren decided on a reclining position-because that was the most comfortable.

"Can you tilt your head a little to the right?" Rivaille murmured, demonstrating. Eren hurriedly complied, staying still as he possibly could-not even breathing.

"You can breathe, you know." This time there was a hint of amusement in his voice, and Eren exhaled.

After a moment, they just sat there in silence, the skritch skritch of Rivaille's pencil against paper filling the silence.

"So…are you going to major in art?" Eren murmured, looking down.

"…No." Rivaille bluntly replied, continuing to draw.

"Why not? You're really good at it-best in class and everything." Eren traced the edge of the chair.  
"My parents want me to be a doctor." Rivaille bluntly replied, continuing to sketch.

"It's your life, right? Do what you want to do." Eren said, blinking.

There was a harsh snap as Rivaille's pencil broke and he stood up, walking towards Eren. The boy gulped and scrambled up, looking for something to cover himself with.

"Move. It's my turn." Rivaille growled, shoving Eren to the easel. "Eh? But my clothes-"

"Put them on later."

"Eh?!"

But Rivaille was already stripping, and Eren could do nothing but gape at his abs-and muscles-and oh god _biceps. _

"Hurry up with it already!" Rivaille snapped.

"Y-Yes!" Eren hurriedly sketched Rivaille's form, feeling uncomfortable drawing nudity while-nude.

After awhile he had finished, and quickly threw his clothes back on, watching Rivaille out of the corner of his eye. The other seemed to have recovered form his bout of anger, and was calming down now, putting on his clothes.

When they stepped out, they saw that everyone else had already finished. Hanji was waiting for them at the front of the curtain, hands stretched out expectantly. Eren hurriedly handed his drawing to her, but Rivaille grabbed it, saying that he didn't want her to see Rivaille naked-he was a student, for god's sake!

But Hanji wailed and protested that it was a grade, and Eren was hysterical at this time-he didn't want to fail art-and finally Rivaille handed Eren's drawing over, and as usual, Hanji ohhed and ahhed at Eren's beautiful contour work, but the one that she was really looking forward to was Rivaille's drawing, and when the boy finally handed it over to her, the first thing she screamed was-_"Rivaille! Does Eren not have a penis?!" _

Eren hurriedly snatched the paper from her, seeing the work that Rivaille had done. The boy had opted for the scraggly face again, defined stomach muscles, and sure enough, between the legs, no penis.

Jean and Reiner were snorting into their hands, and Rivaille sent them a glare that made them shut up.

Hanji scowled. "Rivaille, you get a _zero_."

"So?" Rivaille yawned.

"You will continue drawing Eren until you draw his penis right."

"No." He bluntly replied.

Eren whimpered.

AKMSDKLANSKLDJNA I AM SO SORRY *bows*

Anyway,

Until next time!

Ja ne!

K.K

Reviews make Rivaille and Eren read poetry to eachother on cold winter nights and be fluffy.


	35. Chapter 35

After what seemed like ages, the waves had stopped, and Rivaille found himself at the very top of a tree, not knowing how he himself got there-except for a hazy memory of splinters in his palm and rough bark scratching his skin. His throat felt raw and bruised, and his whole body was stiff, frozen in place on the tree branch. His hair was a tangled mess, dark strands falling into his weary eyes, which were scanning the debris and wreckage of broken and fallen trees, and looking on for miles ahead for a sign of life-a speck of brown hair, a flash of green eyes.

There was no sign of life anywhere-all the green had been wiped out, replaced with a dark muddled brown that was splashed over everything, concealing all forms. Rivaille's green cloak was no different-dripping wet and caked with mud, dirt, and twigs.

He didn't move for a while, still cautious of the wave that could still come-but nothing happened, to his immense relief. _Now, climb down. One hand under the other, over, and over-_Rivaille mechanically climbed down the tree, each finger gripping a branch precisely and tightly, as if every movement had to be calculated, or he would fall again.

When he finally reached the ground, he stumbled back and fell into a puddle, legs giving out from under him. There was some mud in his throat, and he coughed, valiantly trying to dislodge it.

While his body was still trying to rest, he got up shakily, holding onto a branch for support as he tried to walk, scanning the area for a sign of Eren. The boy wasn't there-no matter where Rivaille looked-and Rivaille kept on thinking over and over

_Eren won't die Eren won't die Eren won't die_

Because if he did die, he would have surely felt it, right? Somewhere-but a inner part of his mind murmured-_But Jean didn't feel it when Marco died. What makes you think that you're any different? _

But Rivaille dismissed that and trudged on, finding a broken branch to lean on, like a crutch, because there was a giant gash in his leg that kept on bleeding, no matter what he did trying to stop it.

But he would continue looking, because it was his fault that he didn't save Eren, his fault that he was too _cowardly_, too weak to control his own selfish life, and now he had to make it up to him, hold him again and say _sorry _over and over again, even if Eren didn't hear it-because it was no less than Rivaille deserved anyway.

"Eren?" Rivaille croaked, trudging through the debris that used to be the beach, but was now strewn with branches and wood and dead animals of all kinds-fish, wild dogs that happened to be in the woods at that time, and even a doe, legs snapped and broken.

"Eren?" No reply, except for the echo of his own voice across the broken beach. "Eren?"

As he scanned the wreckage with tired eyes, a thought came into his dissembled brain. _Wouldn't Eren have turned into a titan? _

That would have been the most reasonable course of action-he wouldn't have been swept away then, and the radiating heat from his body would have protected him against any cold.

_But what if Eren didn't have time? _

Rivaille shook his head, biting his lip as he limped up the slanted slope of the beach, leaving a speckled trail of red behind him.

The water was going towards inland, so if Eren was swept away, he would have been near the forest, right?

"Eren?" No reply, and Rivaille had never noticed how eerie the air seemed without the chirping of birds.

Heading deeper into the foliage, mud started getting thicker and deeper, and Rivaille had to stop to lift his injured leg up and go over it, although a numb part of his brain wondered why it even mattered anymore.

The land was strangely flat, no trees sticking up to disturb the parallel plane. There were shapes in the mud, and whenever Rivaille saw a misshapen one, he would head towards it with a surge of hope, only to lose that feeling whenever he saw that it was a dead animal or just a broken tree. And each time, the surge of hope got smaller and smaller, until he felt nothing at all when he walked towards a shape.

"Ere-" His voice broke halfway through, and Rivaille was reduced to a coughing fit, doubling over and falling to the ground.

_Rivaille had a cold. It was winter, and snow was falling around the castle, making a curtain of white around the courtyard and fence. It seemed too peaceful even for titans to disturb, and Rivaille didn't want to break that thought, so he said nothing. But this morning, when he woke up, it was a hacking cough that greeted his ears, only to realize that it was him himself who was doing it-and he inwardly swore that he shouldn't have taken care of the injured horse yesterday. After awhile, when Rivaille told himself over and over to get up but never did, Irvin came to his room, knocking quietly on the door before entering. "Rivaille?" _

_Rivaille opened his mouth to reply, but was reduced to a coughing fit instead, and Irvin worriedly patted him on the back, making soothing sounds. Rivaille slapped his hand away in irritation-he wasn't a girl. _

"_Rivaille-stay in bed today." Rivaille glared at him. "Irvin, I'm not-" Another coughing fit interrupted him. "That's an order." Irvin said, pushing him back into the pillows. _

_Rivaille sighed and turned his head, shivering. Irvin felt his forehead, then quickly jerked it back. "You're burning up, Rivaille-wait, I'll have someone get you food." _

_By then, Rivaille was too feverish to remember anything, but he distinctly remembered a cool cloth on his head and a worried, anxious voice, and he thought that it was Petra, but he couldn't have been sure. A spoon was pushed in between his lips, and warm liquid slipped into his mouth, and he reflexively swallowed, choking as it went down the wrong windpipe. An anxious voice was yelling, and a rough hand patted his back-which was too firm to be Petra's-which soothed him a little bit. Rivaille downed half of the soup, but in the end, he felt nauseous and ended up vomiting the rest onto his bed sheets, a hazy part of his brain thinking that he was going to have to clean that up later. _

_A wail, and warm arms were carrying him to his bathroom, stripping his clothes off, shy hands fluttering around his boxers, and in the end, didn't take them off, but just helping him into the shower instead, slender fingers shampooing his hair, scrubbing down his body. _

_There was a sharp intake of breath as the person wondered what to do about the wet boxers, and finally, they were taken off, thrown in a basket of laundry. A dry pair was quickly replaced on him, along with a slender button down shirt. His cravat was missing, leaving his neck empty. _

"_Corporal?" _

_Rivaille had been too dizzy to reply, feeling the relentless pounding of his head and the trembling of his fingers. _

"_I like you." _

_He blacked out after that. _

And now, Rivaille was left alone in the middle of somewhere that had once seemed comforting and familiar, without a comforting presence by his side, without anyone to help him. He was truly alone, this time.

His leg seemed to be getting worse each moment, and Rivaille took his cloak off, wringing what mud he could off of it, and tying it tightly around his leg as a bandage until he could find a better replacement. He inserted a thin blade to hold the fabric together, and picked up his stick and started walking again, double the amount of mud on him this time.

There were moments where he slipped in and out of consciousness, and a familiar voice would always call him back, and Rivaille clung onto that sound, holding onto the image of the boy who kept him sane.

"_Corporal-are you coming to dinner? I made the food today!" _

"_Corporal-I just wanted to say thank you." _

"_Corporal-I really admire and respect you, you know?" _

"_Corporal!" _

"_Rivaille-I love you." _

"_I love you." _

Eren Eren Eren Eren Eren Eren-

And that was why he continued walking. That was why he taxed himself to the limit, under the clouds that were threatening to rain at any moment-with the painful jolt each time his leg touched the ground-with the steady jagged pounding of his head-and each time he fell, each time he wanted to stop-he thought of that, and went on.

That was why he resisted the temptation to give up, to _fail_, just for the sake of hearing that voice again one last time.

When Rivaille saw a hoard of birds circling over an object, he lurched forward with a shout, almost losing his makeshift cane. When he fell in the mud, he crawled to where they were clustered, and frantically waved them off, to see the dead, broken body of a deer-and it was not Eren lying there, eyes glazed and open in death-and Rivaille was so grateful.

"Eren?"

Rivaille knew that if he saw himself in a mirror, he wouldn't recognize himself anymore-because mud caked his hair, his chin, his clothes, covering himself in utterly unrecognizable dust and grime.

But that was what caused a twinge of horror within himself-for if he saw Eren, would he recognize him as well? Those eyes that would still be so beautiful even in death, the brown hair that was so much more rich than this mud, the lithe body that could have been snapped in half, pounded against trees or rocks over and over again.

When Rivaille finally got back to his feet-there was a rushing, dizzying sensation, and he dimly remembered Hanji's lesson on blood loss after his first fight the day he got to the Recon Corps.

Looking down at his makeshift bandage, he realized that it was still soaked with blood, probably because he was still putting weight on it, but there was nothing else, everything was gone, and Rivaille didn't know anymore.

The world was blurring in and out of focus, sometimes a sharp relief against the dark brown of the forest, or a blurred watercolor that wasn't very picturesque no matter which way Rivaille tilted his head.

After traveling for awhile, somewhere he didn't know, _god why did directions even matter now_-there was a faint whimpering sound, and Rivaille whipped around, looking for any sign of movement, of _anything_-and there was a horse. From what Rivaille could see of it, its legs were broken and snapped, probably from the force of the water-and there was a severe bone poking out of its chest; one of its ribs were broken. The eyes were opaque, dark with what could only be severe agony, and it made that horrible whimpering noise again as Rivaille came closer to it.

"Eren?" Rivaille mumbled, feeling like an idiot, because there was no way Eren could be this horse and he was just imagining things but he felt like if he said 'eren' then maybe the horse would reply and he wouldn't be so lonely after all.

The horse didn't say anything, neck trembling as it strained to get up. Rivaille chuckled, throat sore. "See, I would help you-but I'm injured too, you know?"

The horse whinnied-what sound it could produce, anyway, and finally laid its head back, tongue lolling out as it gave up on trying to get up.

Rivaille instinctively reached for his blade, but when he pulled his remaining one out, it was chipped and battered from the wind and water, and mud coated its surface. Rivaille shivered in cold as he slowly wiped the mud off, grimacing at how it got dirtier each time he wiped it. But nevertheless, he got it fairly clean, and knelt down by the animal's side, carefully putting the weight on his other leg.

"Hey." Rivaille whispered, reaching out a hand to its mane, which was full of debris and twigs.

The horse whimpered.

"You know, I wish that you could survive." Rivaille paused, still stroking its mane. "But don't we all feel that way? I could save any life that I could, actually." He laughed. "But I'm a bit of a hypocrite myself-I eat animals too; I'm in no way vegetarian."

The horse nudged his head against him. "Yeah, Yeah." Rivaille sighed. "But horses don't get out here that often-who do you belong to?"

When there was no response, Rivaille chided himself. "I probably shouldn't think that a horse should talk. Oh god, what's wrong with me?" He put a hand to his forehead, broken blade still in hand.

"Live." He breathed. "Live and be strong." He took the blade and carefully pushed back a tangle of hair, then hissed sharply as he drove the blade in the animal's skull. The horse gave one last spasm, as if trying to use its legs again-trying to command muscles that would no longer move-then was still.

Rivaille sat there for a moment, then after a moment, gave a sickening lurch and tried to vomit, but there was nothing in his stomach, so only the sharp sting of stomach acid came up his throat, choking him.

~X~

When Eren woke up, he was in a ditch, hollowed out and broken by the water. His left eye could barely open, because it was swollen shut, and his right eye honestly wasn't any better. He felt sore all over, and his arm throbbed, as did his hand, and when he looked down there was a deep set of bite marks on there, slight blood still oozing out. He had no memory of what happened after he and Rivaille were separated-just a high pitched screaming his ears that wouldn't go away.

Frantic that he might've lost his hearing, Eren held his hand over his right ear, listening with his left-and let out a breath of immense relief when he realized that he could still hear, that he wasn't going to die out here, alone and cold.

He got up shakily, and realized that his whole body was plastered with mud, from the waist down, his pants and boots were undistinguishable, and his shirt and jacket wasn't any better.

_I have to find Rivaille. _Eren winced as he took his first step; there was a twinge in his shoulder that he dismissed quickly, continuing on in a hunched, lumbering fashion.

He had no idea where he was. The ocean was gone, and so were the forests and the trees-everything was wiped out, and there was a coat of mud over everything.

Water splashed around Eren's shoes as he walked on ahead, and he grimaced as he felt the spongy underbog.

As he felt the bottom of his boots, he discovered that they were frayed and worn-not just from the water and mud, but from days and days of walking without an end.

He wondered if Rivaille's boots were like that too.

"_Don't go." Eren pleaded, holding on to Grisha's hand. "What if you get eaten by a titan?" _

_Grisha laughed and ruffled Eren's hair slightly. "You know, Eren, I'll always be with you." _

"_No, you won't." Eren huffed in disappointment. "But that's something that all adults say-you and mum say that all the time." _

_Grisha hummed for a moment, then squinted up at the sun. "Eren. See the sun?" _

_Eren looked up, then scowled at his father. "What about it?" _

"_There's only one sun, Eren. So whenever you look up at it-I'm seeing the same one." _

"_No matter where you are?" _

"_No matter where I am." Grisha promised, giving Eren's hand one last squeeze, firm and tight before picking up his luggage and heading onto the carriage with its four horses, impatiently waiting for him. _

"_Wait!" Clara hurried out, cleaning her hands with a towel that she quickly placed on the windowsill, running to Grisha. He waited for her, body slightly tilted. When she reached him, she enfolded him in a quick hug, whispering something in his ear that he laughed at. _

_He replied with a quick kiss on her cheek, then swung himself up in the carriage, giving one last wave as the carriage rounded the corner. _

_And as Eren looked at his mom, he saw that she was worried too-worried that each time that he went might be the last time that they might ever see him again-_

_Worried that it would be the last kiss, the last hug. _

Lost in his thoughts, Eren didn't notice when his foot his a sharp object, sending him sprawling forward into a puddle of mud, the bitter grit filling his mouth.

Spitting the dirt out, Eren scanned the ground for what tripped him, fanning his hands across the ground to feel the edge. Finally, his fingers brushed a sharp corner, and he quickly pulled it out of the ground, wincing at the slight popping noise.

It was plastered with mud, and shriveled vines were stuck in its hollow spaces, but it was the Rivaere cube, and with a jolt of realization, Eren remembered that it was Rivaille who had it before.

"Rivaille!" His voice only came out as a croak and ended as a hacking cough, and he cleared his voice and tried again.

"Rivaille!"

And there was a faint echo, of his own voice back to him, over the distant peaks of the mountains that seemed so far away, and Eren was bitterly disappointed, in himself for getting his hopes up, and partly disappointed in Rivaille for not hearing him.

The sky was still cloudy and ominous, and as Eren squinted up at it, the clouds blurred together into something white and unintelligible, the gray spaces between them becoming silver chains in a link that went on and on.

It's almost the most beautiful thing that Eren has ever seen.

There were many philosophers that Armin had loved in the past-A man called Socrates, Confucius, and someone else that Eren couldn't remember from the top of his weary head.

But Armin had said something about "the power of desire" and how it was "overbearing the power of 'good fortune'" and Eren wasn't sure if he believed that, but somehow, if he tried enough, then maybe Rivaille would appear magically in front of him, healthy and whole.

But the power of desire never worked in this world-never granted your whishes as you pleased-only hard work triumphed all.

But when Eren was declared as fifth in class, he was ecstatic, and somehow feeling like he 'knew' all along, and actually feeling a twinge of guilt, as he looked at the dejected faces of those who wanted to be in the top ten but didn't make it, as if his desire to win, to be held fifth place, had somehow spurred him to the top.

But he had never had the intention of joining the military police in the first place, so he was more than willing to give up his position as fifth, but at the same time, not, because he wanted to _prove_, to _show_, that he wasn't weak, that he could do it.

Before Eren had found his abilities, he wasn't accustomed to attention. It wasn't as if he didn't like it-it wasn't necessarily like that-but merely because the feeling of eyes gorging a hole in your brain was something disturbing, and he liked his mind, thank you very much.

But he was sometimes mistaken for Rivaille. They do look a little alike, with dark hair and a firm stature, but the difference ends there.

Eren's eyes are brighter than his, more naive than his, who had seen most of the world-and Rivaille's eyes are like brief silver flecks of glass, reflecting Eren's blurred face over and over back at him.

Eyes are said to be the entrance to the soul, but Rivaille's are more like a mirror.

And the height is nothing to be elaborated on-Eren was taller than Rivaille, no doubt.

But sometimes, when Eren bends over him, kissing him gently, his necklace dangles down, free from his shirt, pooling strands of sterling silver over Rivaille's chest, the key fractured and gleaming in the dim sunlight, nestled in the dark hollow of his collarbone.

And those times, Rivaille slits his eyes, not unlike a cat, and fingers Eren's necklace gently, feeling the notches of the key, and Eren will never tell him, but he looks the most beautiful in that moment.

Silver dangling from his palms, gleaming through the gaps between his fingers, like a chained link.

But the key is all dirty and muddy now, and Eren wonders how in the _world _it stayed there for so long.

He had always thought of the key as a blessing, a lead, but now he thinks of it as a curse, as a '_maybe that's why I've been looking for so long_'

But blaming keys would be stupid, to say in sense, so Eren shuts up talking to himself, concentrating at the task in hand.

Rivaille was smart. He would probably have tried to find shelter by now-building something out of those random sticks or leaves. And here Eren was, uselessly wandering around to look for him.

And when he walks again, his head is spinning, maybe from thinking too much, but now that he started he can't stop, and instead his fingers stray to the dirtied cube in his hand, fingering it and turning the muddy links wearily, trying to match each color up once again. But no matter what he does, there's always _one _yellow in the red, _one _green in the blue, _one _white in the black, and finally Eren muses about just throwing the cube down into the dirt and screaming in frustration, but he likes to think that he's more mature now, so he doesn't.

To his surprise, when he looks up at the sky, it's dark. Even though Eren swore that it was morning when it began, he has no recollection of how long the waves went on, and he can't even think anymore because, there was this spinning in his head that he couldn't get rid of, no matter how much he gripped it.

A dim part of his mind tells him that he's being stupid, to get shelter, but another part screams _Rivaille _and Eren is conflicted.

_One more time, One more time, I swear-Now I'm falling _

_Again-you must be so sick of this* _

When Eren finally makes up his mind resolutely, deciding to search for Rivaille-when he's almost close to giving up, it's not the good things of Rivaille that he remembers, but all the bad.

~X~

When Rivaille's eyes gleam at his coldly and the figure turns away, back stiff against the crystal window-dismissing Eren yet once again.

And Eren feels a flash of fury, anger, and sick triumph, because this has happened again and Rivaille is a untouchable person.

But when Eren leaves the room, he sees a slight movement out of the corner of his eye-Rivaille is clutching his jacket, burying his head in his cravat, and Eren thinks that maybe the reason that Rivaille wears so many layers is less of a weird afflection, and more of a desperate source of warmth.

And Eren had stopped, turned around back into the room, took hold of Rivaille's shoulders and smiled at the older man.

"_Let's start over. Hello, I'm Eren Jaegar." _

~X~

How do we become blind to the scars that are left behind

What becomes inspiration when the faith fades

Are happy endings hopeful in nothing but chaos

How can we keep hoping when reality promises noone a happy ending

How can an immaculate being hurt you so profoundly

And how can you still be able to love him

When will the light outshine all the darkness

And when will the swift wind destroy all this confusion

When will stars align

And When will the moon shine at it's greatest intensity*

* * *

So, I have a long chapter today! *whoo let's cheer K.K on*

But I know that nothing much happened in this one, but I'm still trying to think of how to make Eren and Rivaille meet again-so…Yes, Once again, I need ideas. XD

It's been….2 weeks? Ish? Since I've last updated, so I hope that this extra long chapter will make up for it. (sorry sorry sorry)

But-those of you who know the painting omake-I've had requests to turn it into a real story. And…I'm actually thinking about it! :o So, if enough people want me to turn it into a real fanfiction, whoo naked Eren and Rivaille drawing eachother! ;)

1* Rolling Girl

2.* Questions of Emptiness

Until next time! Ja ne!

K.K

Reviews will make Rivaille and Eren hold hands. (okay I know that was lame I'm sorry)


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